In accordance with the Rules of Procedure, Members are invited to attend the Thirty-first Meetings of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources and the Scientific Committee which will be held in Hobart, Australia, from 22 October to 1 November 2012.



The venue for these meetings is at the CCAMLR Headquarters which is located at 181 Macquarie Street, Hobart.



A preparatory meeting, for Heads of Delegation only, will be held on Monday 22 October at 1700 h. The meeting for the Scientific Committee Representatives only will be held on Sunday 21 October at 1600 h.



All meeting-related information is available on the Commission and Scientific Committee meeting pages of the new CCAMLR website (www.ccamlr.org), which is being launched today. As explained in COMM CIRC 12/85–SC CIRC 12/43, please be mindful that in order to access ‘Members only’ sections of the website, Members need to designate an administrator for both the Commission and the Scientific Committee pages, or one for each. Unless the Secretariat is advised otherwise (to ccamlr@ccamlr.org), designated administrators will be a Member’s Commissioner and/or Scientific Committee Representative.



Members are reminded of their obligation to notify the Secretariat in advance of the meeting, the names of their representatives, alternate representatives and advisers. All notifications should be sent by the official Commission Head of Delegation. To assist with meeting logistics it would be appreciated if this could be completed by 12 October 2012.



Members’ attention is drawn to the requirement that, to facilitate visa processing, official Commission or Scientific Committee contacts should provide the Secretariat with a Personal Information Form for each person nominated to attend the meeting. This form is to be submitted at least two months prior to the person’s intended date of departure to travel to Australia. The form and revised instructions concerning visa requirements for entry into Australia are available on the Commission and Scientific Committee meeting pages of the CCAMLR website.



An Information Note is also available on the website. It includes, inter alia, details relating to the meeting venue, registration, meeting papers and travel arrangements.

Agendas

The Commission’s Preliminary Agenda and Preliminary Annotated Agenda and the Scientific Committee’s Preliminary Agenda and Preliminary Annotated Agenda have been prepared in accordance with Rule 15 of the Commission’s Rules of Procedure and Rule 5 of the Scientific Committee’s Rules of Procedure respectively. These agendas can be found on the Commission and Scientific Committee meeting pages of the CCAMLR website.



Under Rule 16 of the Commission’s Rules of Procedure and Rule 6 of the Scientific Committee’s Rules of Procedure, proposals for the inclusion of supplementary items for the Provisional Agenda with accompanying explanatory memoranda, are to reach the Secretariat not later than 65 days before the meeting, that is by 19 August 2012 for the Commission meeting and by 18 August 2012 for the Scientific Committee meeting.





Observers

Invitations to attend CCAMLR-XXXI as Observers have been extended to Acceding States, non-Contracting Parties and international organisations in accordance with CCAMLR-XXX, paragraphs 17.1 to 17.4 and COMM CIRC 12/71 and responses to same.





Submission of Meeting Papers

Members’ attention is drawn to the guidelines for submission of papers to both the Commission and Scientific Committee and the deadlines set out therein.





Online Registration and Distribution of Meeting Papers

Online registration is now available. Participants who do not require hard copies of meeting papers may register online up until 12 October 2012. However, participants who wish to collect hard copies of meeting papers on arrival at the meeting venue must register online no later than 28 September 2012. Please refer to Item 3 of the Information Note for further details.



Members should note that online registration does not constitute official notification of attendance. Members are still required to notify the Secretariat in advance of the meeting, the names of their representatives, alternate representatives and advisers (requested, if possible, by 12 October: see above). A participant’s online registration will not be processed unless official notification of his/her attendance has been received from the Member concerned. Members should also note that participants who register online are still required to submit the previously mentioned Personal Information Form if they require a visa to enter Australia.



Registration will be available at the meeting venue for those participants who, by 12 October, have notified the Secretariat they are coming but have not yet registered online. Hard copies of meeting papers, if required, would not be immediately available, but would be provided subject to time constraints.





Meeting Schedule

A preliminary schedule for this year’s meetings of the Commission, Scientific Committee, SCIC and SCAF as requested by the Commission in 2011 (CCAMLR-XXX, paragraph 15.15) has been prepared. This is based on the schedule distributed with COMM CIRC 12/64. Changes may be proposed to the Chair prior to the opening of the meeting when the schedule will be finalised.