Ethics convention
The UN Tourism Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics, the first international convention of UN Tourism, was adopted, in the five official languages of the Organization, by the UN Tourism General Assembly at its 23rd session held in San Petersburg, Russian Federation, September 2019, through resolution A/RES/722(XXIII) .
The Framework Convention will be open for signature at the Headquarters of UN Tourism in Madrid until 15 October 2020 and, thereafter, subject to ratification, acceptance, approval or accession by all Member States of UN Tourism and all Member States of the United Nations.
BACKGROUND
In 2015, the World Committee on Tourism Ethics submitted to the General Assembly of the UN Tourism a proposal to convert the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, UN Tourism’s main policy document, into an international convention in order to reinforce its effectiveness.
Consequently, by Resolution 668 (XXI) the UN Tourism General Assembly (Medellin, Colombia, 12-17 September 2015) entrusted the UN Tourism Secretary-General to establish a special Working Group to examine the procedures and implications of adopting such a Convention in cooperation with the World Committee on Tourism Ethics.
The Working Group, composed by representatives of 36 UN Tourism Member States, held five meetings since it was created at the beginning of 2016. It examined the original draft text of the Convention and revised article by article and section by section.
As part of its deliberations, the Working Group agreed not to make substantial changes to the nine core principles of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism as these were already accepted by the UN Tourism General Assembly in 1999 and are widely known by the international Tourism community: these nine articles are reproduced in the Draft Convention on Tourism Ethics under the section “Ethical Principles in Tourism” and constitute the backbone of the Convention.
The 105th session of the UN Tourism Executive Council endorsed the approach of avoiding any unnecessary changes to the nine core principles of the Global Code of Ethics in order to finalize a draft text of the Convention for its consideration by the General Assembly (CE/DEC/7(CV) Madrid, Spain, 10-12 May 2017).
The English version of the Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics was submitted to the 22nd session of the General Assembly for its consideration and was approved by A/RES/707(XXII).
The Framework Convention, in all five official languages of the Organization, was officially adopted by the 23rd session of the General Assembly, in its Resolution A/RES/722(XXIII). This is the first International Convention to be adopted under the aegis of UN Tourism.
In accordance with its article 18, the Framework Convention will be open for signature at the Headquarters of UN Tourism in Madrid until 15 October 2020 and, thereafter, subject to ratification, acceptance, approval or accession by all Member States of UN Tourism and all Member States of the United Nations.
All Member States of the UN Tourism and of the United Nations are now called to ratify the Convention, if they so wish and in accordance with their constitutional provisions and practice, therewith committing themselves to formulating policies consistent with the Ethical Principles in Tourism spelled out in the Convention.
UN Tourism Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics
The Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics has been built around the nine core principles of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism. In order to frame these principles in the classical structure of an international treaty, several provisions have been adapted.
- The Preamble of the text is inspired by that of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, although updated to the current international context and purpose of the proposed Convention.
- Part I of the Convention includes the General Provisions which contextualise the text by outlining the key terminology, the aim and scope of the provisions of the Convention as well as the means of implementation.
- Part II is dedicated to the Ethical Principles in Tourism which constitute the backbone of the Convention.
- Part III on the World Committee on Tourism Ethics refers to the mandate, composition and functioning of this subsidiary organ of the UN Tourism General Assembly in the context of the Convention.
- The two final sections of the Convention contain standard provisions of international treaties, namely Part IV addresses the Conference of States Parties and Part V features the Final Provisions regulating procedures for signature, ratification, acceptance, approval and accession.
- The Optional Protocol annexed to the Convention is a separate instrument that States Parties to the Convention can decide to ratify or not; it consists of a voluntary conciliation mechanism concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention.