1. This Protocol shall be open for signature and subject to ratification,
acceptance or approval by States and regional economic integration
organizations which are Parties to the Convention. It shall be open for
signature at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 16 March 1998 to 15
March 1999. This Protocol shall be open for accession from the day after the
date on which it is closed for signature. Instruments of ratification,
acceptance, approval or accession shall be deposited with the Depositary.
2. Any regional economic integration organization which becomes a Party to
this Protocol without any of its member States being a Party shall be bound by
all the obligations under this Protocol. In the case of such organizations, one
or more of whose member States is a Party to this Protocol, the organization
and its member States shall decide on their respective responsibilities for the
performance of their obligations under this Protocol. In such cases, the
organization and the member States shall not be entitled to exercise rights
under this Protocol concurrently.
3. In their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, regional economic integration organizations shall declare the extent of their competence with respect to the matters governed by this Protocol. These organizations shall also inform the Depositary, who shall in turn inform the Parties, of any substantial modification in the extent of their competence.