North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission

The Commission

NEAFC is an organisation comprised of Contracting Parties which have signed up to the Convention on Multilateral Cooperation in North East Atlantic Fisheries, which entered into force in November 1982.

The head of the Commission is the President, who is responsible for convening, presiding, opening and closing and running regular meetings of the Contracting Parties and ensuring that the business of the Commission is carried out effectively and in accordance with its decisions. Presidents are elected from among the Contracting Parties for three years. A President may serve more than once, but not more than two consecutive terms.

The current President is Stefan Asmundsson, Iceland

To ensure the smooth running of the organisation the President is assisted or advised by:

• a permanent London-based Secretariat
• three Permanent Committees
• four Working Groups

To see the Rules of Procedure and Terms of Reference that govern the Secretariat, Committees and Working groups and the full text of the Convention go to Basic Texts page (About NEAFC menu)

Observers

At its 20th Annual Meeting, 5-9 November 2001, NEAFC agreed rules for observers in order to admit NGOs as observers to the meetings of the Commission. Rules in Respect of Observers are attached below.