[Senate Executive Report 106-14]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
106th Congress Exec. Rpt.
SENATE
2d Session 106-14
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CONVENTION ON PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AND CO-OPERATION IN RESPECT OF
INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION
_______
April 27, 2000.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Helms, from the Committee on Foreign Relations,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany Treaty Doc. 105-51]
The Committee on Foreign Relations, to which was referred
the Convention on Protection of Children And Co-operation in
Respect of Intercountry Adoption, adopted and opened for
signature at the conclusion of the Seventeenth Session of The
Hague Conference on Private International Law on May 29, 1993
(Treaty Doc. 105-51), having considered the same, reports
favorably thereon, with six declarations, and recommends that
the Senate give its advice and consent to the ratification
thereof as set forth in this report and the accompanying
resolution of ratification.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose..........................................................1
II. Background.......................................................2
III. Summary..........................................................2
IV. Entry Into Force and Termination.................................8
V. Committee Action.................................................8
VI. Committee Comments...............................................8
VII. Text of the Resolution of Ratification..........................11
I. Purpose
The Convention on Protection of Children And Co-operation
in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (hereinafter, the ``Hague
Convention'' or ``Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption'')
is intended to protect the rights of, and prevent abuses
against, children, birth families, and adoptive parents
involved in adoptions (or prospective adoptions) subject to the
Convention, and to ensure that such adoptions are in the
children's best interests. It is also intended to improve the
ability of the governments of parties to the Convention to
assist their citizens seeking to adopt children from abroad.
II. Background
The United States signed the Hague Convention on
Intercountry Adoption on March 31, 1994. The Convention was
transmitted to the Senate for its advice and consent on June
11, 1998. The Convention entered into force on May 1, 1995,
after the deposit of the third instrument of ratification.
The Convention mandates that each signatory country
establish a national central authority. The central authority
is to oversee the Convention's implementation in the signatory
country. The Convention has two primary features. First, it
establishes a mechanism for the cooperation of signatory
countries in the areas of international adoption. Second, it
ensures the recognition of adoptions undertaken and certified
through the Convention provisions.
As of April 1, 2000, twenty-nine countries had ratified the
Convention and ten had acceded to it.\1\ Of the top twenty
countries sending orphans to be adopted in the United States in
1998, Romania, Colombia, the Philippines, Mexico, Brazil, and
Poland are parties to the Convention.\2\
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\1\ See the concise Status Sheet for the Convention found on the
website for the Hague Conference on Private International Law at http:/
/www.hcch.net/e/status/adoshte.html. The ratifying States are
Australia, Austria, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Finland, France, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Panama,
Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden,
Venezuela. The acceding States are Andorra, Burundi, Georgia, Iceland,
Lithuania, Mauritius, Moldova, Monaco, New Zealand, Paraguay.
\2\ See http://travel.state.gov/orphan--numbers.html. The top
twenty in 1998 were Russia, China, South Korea, Guatemala, Vietnam,
India, Romania, Colombia, Cambodia, Philippines, Ukraine, Mexico,
Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Brazil, Thailand, Poland, Latvia.
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The United States has a considerable interest in
international adoptions. In Fiscal Year 1998, nearly 16,000
orphans from foreign countries were adopted by U.S. citizens--
as many international adoptions as all other countries
combined.
The United States was an active and important participant
in the negotiation of the Convention. The U.S. delegation to
the negotiations, which included adoptive parents, law
professors, adoption service providers, public welfare
representatives and government officials, sought to ensure
that, in addition to setting meaningful norms and procedures,
the Convention would remain sufficiently flexible so that only
minimal changes to current practice would be necessary for U.S.
implementation.
III. Summary
A. General
The Convention (and its implementation legislation) does
the following:
Provides, for the first time, formal international
and intergovernmental approval of the process of
intercountry adoption.
Encourages intercountry adoption, as regulated by
the Convention, as a means of offering the advantage of
a permanent family to a child for whom a suitable
family cannot be found in the child's country of
origin.
Establishes a minimum set of uniform standards
governing international adoptions. Each party, however,
may promulgate or maintain further conditions and
restrictions beyond those specified in the Convention.
Establishes a central authority in each country to
ensure that one authoritative source of information and
point of contact exists in that country.
Establishes reasonable certainty that adoptions
decreed pursuant to the Convention will be recognized
and given effect in all other party countries.
The Convention establishes a system whereby private non-
profit entities are ``accredited'' by governments as approved
to perform adoption services under the Convention. In addition,
governments may choose to have public agencies, as well as
``approved persons'' (individuals such as attorneys) perform
such adoption services.
Implementing legislation is required before the Convention
can take effect. The Executive Branch, in submitting the
Convention to the Senate, stated that the U.S. instrument of
ratification will not be deposited until enactment of the
implementing legislation and until appropriate steps have been
taken ``pursuant to that legislation to enable the United
States fully to implement the Convention.'' The recommended
resolution of ratification approved by the Committee makes this
requirement explicit.
B. Key Provisions
Chapter I, Articles 1 to 3, establishes the scope of the Convention
Article 1. The objects of the Convention are: (a) to
establish safeguards to ensure that intercountry adoptions take
place in the best interests of the child and with respect for
his or her fundamental rights; (b) to establish a system of
cooperation among the Contracting States to ensure the
safeguards and thus prevent the abduction and traffic in
children; (c) and to secure the recognition in Contracting
States of adoptions made under the Convention.
Article 2. This Article establishes the applicability of
the Convention. It covers cases in which (1) a child habitually
resident in one Contracting State (``the State of origin'')
goes to another Contracting State (``the receiving State'')
either after adoption in the State of origin by a habitual
resident of the receiving State or before adoption in the
receiving State, and (2) a permanent parent-child relationship
is created.
Article 3. The Convention only covers cases, in which the
consents and approvals required by Article 17 have been given,
involving children under eighteen years of age.
Chapter II, Articles 4 and 5, establishes the fundamental adoption
prerequisites for the State of origin and the receiving State
Article 4. This Article sets out the requirements for the
State of origin for establishment of eligibility for
intercountry adoption under the Convention. The competent
authorities of the State of origin must determine the
following: (1) the child is adoptable; (2) due consideration
was given to placing the child in the State of origin; (3)
intercountry adoption is in the best interests of the child;
(4) the requisite consents of parents, institutions and
authorities have been freely given, in the appropriate legal
form, without any inducement; (5) the child, having regard to
his or her age and maturity, has been advised and informed
about the effects of consent and adoption, his wishes and
opinions have been given due consideration, and his consent, if
required, has been given in the appropriate legal form and
without inducement. The Article also requires that the consent
of the mother be given after the birth of the child.
Article 5. Article 5 sets out the requirements of the
receiving State. Paragraphs (a) and (b) provide that an
adoption under the Convention can only occur if authorities in
the receiving State have determined that the prospective
parents are suitable and eligible to adopt and have ensured
that they have been counseled as may be necessary. Under
paragraph (c), an adoption under the Convention may occur only
if the competent authorities of the receiving State have
determined that the child is or will be authorized to enter and
reside permanently in that State.
Chapter III, Articles 6 to 13, provides for the designation of central
authorities and other accredited bodies within each Contracting
State which shall administer intercountry adoption procedures
Article 6. Article 6(1) requires each Contracting State to
designate a central authority to discharge the duties imposed
by the Convention on such authorities. (In the United States,
this authority will be the State Department.) Article 6(2)
further permits States with federal systems to appoint more
than one central authority and to specify the territorial or
personal extent of their functions, but such States must
designate one central authority which can receive and transmit
any communications intended for the other appropriate central
authorities in the same Contracting State.
Article 7. Article 7 calls for central authorities to
cooperate and to promote cooperation among their States to
attain the goals of the Convention. The Article requires
central authorities to: (1) provide information about its
State's adoption laws and other general information, and (2) to
keep each other informed about the operation of the Convention
and to eliminate obstacles to its application.
Article 8. Central authorities are obliged to take,
directly or through public authorities, measures to prevent
improper financial or other gain in connection with an adoption
and to deter practices that are contrary to the objects of the
Convention.
Article 9. Article 9 sets out various requirements for
central authorities, or their duly accredited designees. The
central authorities are required to: (1) collect, preserve and
exchange information about the child and the adoptive parents;
(2) facilitate and expedite adoption-related proceedings; (3)
promote the development of adoption counseling and post-
adoption services; (4) provide each other with general
evaluation reports about intercountry adoption experiences; and
(5) reply to justified requests from other central authorities
or public authorities for information about a particular case,
to the extent permitted by the law of their State.
Article 10. This Article defines the minimum requirement
for accreditation of bodies that are performing central
authority functions. Accreditation shall only be granted to and
maintained by bodies demonstrating competence to perform
properly the tasks to be entrusted to them.
Article 11. This Article defines the basic duties and
requirements of an accredited body. Such a body must: (a)
pursue non-profit objectives according to conditions set by the
State of accreditation; (b) be directed and staffed by persons
qualified by their ethical standards and by training or
experience to work in the field of intercountry adoption; and
(c) be supervised by the competent authorities of the State of
accreditation.
Article 12. A body accredited in one Contracting State may
only act in another Contracting State if both States have
authorized it to do so.
Article 13. Each Contracting State must transmit the
designation of central authorities and lists of accredited
bodies to the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on
Private International Law.
Chapter IV, Articles 14 to 22, sets out the procedural requirements for
intercountry adoption, including home-study reports on the
prospective adoptive parents and reports on the child
Article 14. Persons residing in a Contracting State who
wish to adopt a child residing in another Contracting State are
required to apply to the central authority in the State where
they reside.
Article 15. This Article requires the central authority, if
it finds that the prospective parent(s) are eligible and
suitable to adopt, to prepare a report about their identity,
eligibility and suitability to adopt, background, family and
medical history, social environment, reasons for adopting,
ability to undertake an intercountry adoption, and the type of
children whom they would be qualified to raise. The report is
to be transmitted to the State of origin.
Article 16. Article 16 sets out the requirements for a
central authority once it determines that a child is adoptable
under the Convention. The central authority of the State of
origin must: (1) prepare a report, including the child's
background and special needs; (2) give due consideration be the
child's upbringing, and ethnic, religious and cultural
background; (3) ensure the appropriate consents have been
given; and (4) determine that the envisaged placement is in the
best interests of the child. The report on the child must be
transmitted to the central authority of the receiving State,
along with proof of the necessary consents and the reasons for
the determination regarding placement. The report must take
care not to reveal the identity of the biological parents if
their identities may not be disclosed under the laws of the
State of origin.
Article 17. Article 17 sets out the requirements for the
State of origin in deciding whether parents are eligible for
adoption. The central authority of the receiving State must:
(1) ensure that the prospective adoptive parents agree; (2)
approve such decision, where such approval is required by the
law of the receiving State or the central authority of the
State of origin; (3) ensure that the central authorities of
both States have agreed that the adoption may proceed; and (4)
determine that the prospective parents are eligible and
suitable to adopt and that the child is or will be authorized
to enter and reside permanently in the receiving State.
Article 18. The central authorities of both States shall
take the necessary steps to obtain permission for the child to
leave the State of origin and enter and reside permanently in
the receiving State.
Article 19. Article 19 deals with the transfer of the child
to the receiving State, requiring: (1) that the transfer not
occur until the requirements of Article 17 have been satisfied;
(2) that the central authorities of both States ensure that the
transfer occurs in secure and appropriate circumstances and,
when possible, accompanied by the adoptive or prospective
adoptive parents; and (3) if the transfer does not occur, the
reports on the prospective parents and the child referred to in
Articles 15 and 16 are returned to the transmitting
authorities.
Article 20. Central authorities are obligated to keep each
other informed about the adoption process and about a
placement's progress if a probationary period is required.
Article 21. Article 21 sets out procedures in cases where
adoption is to take place after transfer to the receiving State
and it becomes apparent to the central authority that the
prospective placement is not in the best interests of the
child. Requirements for assisting the child include: (1)
arrangement for temporary care; (2) arrangement for a new
placement with a view to adoption or alternative long-term
care; and (3) as a last resort, arrangement for the return of
the child. The child must be consulted regarding these steps if
the age and maturity of the child so warrant.
Article 22. Article 22 permits central authority functions
to be performed by public authorities, accredited bodies, or
approved persons to the extent permitted by the law of a
Contracting State. (The implementing legislation reported by
the Committee provides for this authority.)
Chapter V, Articles 23 to 27, provides for the recognition of
Convention adoptions among the Contracting States and
delineates the effects of adoption
Article 23. Adoptions certified by competent authorities in
the State of adoption must be recognized by the other States
that are Party to the Convention. Each Party must identify to
the depository for the Convention the competent authority that
will issue such certification on behalf of the Party.
Article 24. Parties may refuse to recognize an adoption, as
required by Article 23, only when the adoption is manifestly
contrary to public policy. Such a decision must take into
account the best interests of the child.
Article 25. Parties may refuse to recognize adoptions that
are completed pursuant to agreements with other Parties as
permitted by Article 39(2). (Under Article 39(2) Parties may
enter into agreements to derogate from Articles 14-16 and 18-21
in the application of the Convention.)
Article 26. When an adoption is recognized, at a minimum
Parties must give recognition to: (1) the legal parent-child
relationship between the child and the adoptive parents; (2)
the parental responsibility of the adoptive parents for the
child; and (3) the termination of pre-existing legal
relationship between the child and his or her mother and
father, if the adoption had this effect in the State where the
adoption was made. Parties must provide the child of an
adoption in which a pre-existing parent-child relationship has
been terminated with the same rights as would be provided for
such an adoption if it had occurred within their own State.
Article 27. In the case of an adoption that does not
terminate a pre-existing relationship, the receiving State may
convert the adoption to have such an effect if the law of the
receiving State so permits and the appropriate consents
referred to in Article 4 haven been given.
Chapter VI, Articles 28 to 42, contains general provisions concerning
various matters
Article 28. The Convention does not affect any law in the
State of origin which requires that an adoption be completed in
that State or which prohibits the transfer of the child to the
receiving State prior to completion of the adoption.
Article 29. The prospective parents and the child's parents
or any other person who has care of the child shall not be in
contact until the consent and other requirements of Articles
4(a)-(c) and 5(a) have been met. This restriction does not
apply to adoptions within a family or contacts pursuant to
conditions established by the competent authority of the State.
Article 30. Competent authorities must ensure that
information in their custody regarding the child's origin,
identity of parents, and medical history is preserved. Access
shall be permitted to the child or his representative as
provided by the law of the State.
Article 31. Personal data gathered under the Convention--
particularly reports prepared pursuant to Articles 15 and 16--
shall be used only for the purposes for which the information
was gathered and transmitted. (This Article shall not prejudice
the requirements of Article 30.)
Article 32. Article 32 pertains to the fees charged in
adoption services. It sets out three basic requirements: (1) no
one is permitted to derive improper financial or other gain
from an activity related to an intercountry adoption; (2) only
costs and expenses, including reasonable professional fees of
person involved in the adoption, may be charged; and (3)
directors, administrators and employees of bodies involved in
an adoption may not receive remuneration which is unreasonably
high in relation to services rendered.
Article 33. Competent authorities are required to notify
the central authority of their State if any provision of the
Convention has not been respected or there is serious risk it
will not be respected. The central authority is charged with
ensuring the appropriate measures are taken.
Article 34. This Article deals with translation
requirements. The State of origin is required to produce
translated documents if the State of destination so requests,
and adoptive parents must bear the costs of such translation.
Article 35. The competent authorities are charged with
acting expeditiously in the process of adoption.
Article 36-38. Articles 36-38 provide guidelines for the
applicability of the Convention to Parties with different
territorial units or two or more systems of law applicable to
different categories of persons. However, in Article 38, the
Convention makes clear that these guidelines will not impose
more severe obligations on Parties with a unified system of
law.
Article 39. The Convention will not affect other
international agreements binding on Parties to the Convention,
unless such Parties make a contrary declaration to the other
Parties to the Convention. Parties may also enter into
agreements with other Convention Parties that derogate from
Articles 14-16 and 8-21 with a view to improving application of
the Convention.
Article 40. Reservations to the Convention are prohibited.
Article 41. The Convention will apply to all adoption
applications made to the central authority of a Party to the
Convention, provided they are received after the Convention has
entered into force for both the receiving and the sending
State.
Article 42. Article 42 calls for review at regular
intervals of the practical operation of the Convention by the
Hague Conference on Private International Law.
Chapter VII, Articles 43 to 48, contains the typical final clauses
providing for the signature, ratification, acceptance,
approval, or accession to the Convention; its entry into force;
and denunciation of the Convention
IV. Entry Into Force and Termination
A. Entry Into Force
The Convention, pursuant to Article 46, entered into force
in May 1995. For the United States and all other ratifying
Parties, it will enter into force on the first day of the month
following the expiration of three months after the deposit of
the instrument of ratification.
B. Termination
Parties may denounce the Convention, pursuant to Article
47, in writing, and it will take effect on the first day of the
month following the expiration of twelve months after such
denunciation is received by the depositary. Parties may specify
a longer period for such denunciation to take effect.
V. Committee Action
The Committee on Foreign Relations held a public hearing on
the proposed Convention on October 5, 1999 (and is reprinted in
S. Hrg. 106-257). The Committee considered the proposed
Convention on April 13, 2000, and ordered the proposed
Convention favorably reported by voice vote (with Senator
Brownback voting no), with the recommendation that the Senate
give its advice and consent to the ratification of the
Convention, subject to the declarations set out in the
resolution of ratification.
VI. Committee Comments
The Committee on Foreign Relations recommends favorably the
proposed Convention. On balance, the Committee believes that
the proposed Convention is in the interest of the United States
and urges the Senate to act promptly to give its advice and
consent to ratification. Several issues did arise in the course
of the Committee's consideration of the Convention, and the
Committee believes that the following comments may be useful to
Senate in its consideration of the proposed Convention and to
the State Department.
A. The Importance of the Convention
According to the most recent statistics, in 1998 almost
15,774 children were adopted by Americans from abroad. The
majority of the children were brought to the United States from
Russia, China, South Korea, and Central and South American
countries. Since 1955, more than 98,000 children have been
adopted by American parents from South Korea alone. These
statistics reflect the importance of international adoption to
many American families.
However, with the important benefits both to parents and
the children, there have been abuses of the current
international adoption system. Today, U.S. and international
agencies providing adoption have few regulatory obligations.
Little effort is given by many agencies to ensure that parents
are adequately prepared for some of the issues unique to
intercountry adoption. Many of the same requirements that apply
to domestic adoption regarding full disclosure of health
records that are accurate and complete, or to provide legal
impediments to monetary inducements for adoption, are
sporadically required or enforced in many countries.
The Convention mandates that Parties establish basic
requirements for all intercountry adoptions, regardless of the
nationality of the child or parent. These requirements include
ascertaining: the adoptability of the child, the eligibility of
the child to emigrate, parental suitability, and counseling for
adoptive parents. Each country must establish a ``central
authority'' within the government that provides uniform
screening and authorization of adoption service providers and
certification that the requirements of the Convention have been
met in each adoption. The Convention also imposes requirements
to protect the child's welfare throughout the adoption process.
Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mary Ryan
testified during the Committee's hearing regarding the
Convention that sending countries have also expressed concern
that their children will be properly protected by adoption
service providers in receiving countries. She further told the
Committee: ``Several of the largest source countries have
indicated to us that they are looking to us to ratify and to
implement the Convention quickly, and that they plan to model
their own programs after ours. This latter point is
particularly important as it bears directly on the ability of
American parents to adopt abroad.'' Already, several countries
have indicated that in the future they will prohibit adoption
to countries that are not Party to the Convention.
The Committee agrees with the Administration that it is
crucial to provide the protections and requirements set out in
the Convention and its implementing legislation. The Committee
believes that by ensuring that adoption services are performed
in a manner that permits all relevant parties to provide their
consent with a full understanding of what is at stake will
reduce the potential for abuses and the difficulties that ensue
when adoptions are contested after a child has been placed with
a family. Given the fact that Americans adopt from abroad more
children than any other country, the protections envisioned in
the Convention will be felt most broadly in the United States.
The Committee therefore expects that the Executive Branch
will expeditiously implement the requirements set out in the
implementing legislation, once enacted, so that the United
States may become a Party to the Convention at the earliest
possible opportunity. The Committee believes the Convention and
its implementing legislation will further the ability of U.S.
citizens to adopt abroad, while ensuring that the best
interests of children are protected in the process.
B. Streamlined Process
As noted above, the Convention requires each country to
establish a central authority that provides uniform screening
and authorization of adoption service providers. Also as noted,
these mandates are not contained in current law and will place
new burdens on adoption service providers. The Committee
supports imposition of these new obligations for the various
reasons stated above. However, the Committee does not intend
that these obligations unduly burden the adoption process. In
fact, a well-functioning and streamlined central authority
process should expedite intercountry adoption.
The Committee urges the Administration in its
implementation of the Convention, as required by implementing
legislation, to minimize paperwork and other bureaucratic
requirements to the maximum extent possible while meeting the
requirements of the law. The Committee believes that a process
over-burdened by paperwork and regulations will have the
unintended effect of stifling adoptions. Such an outcome would
defeat the objectives of the Convention and be contrary to the
intent of this Committee in supporting ratification of the
Hague Convention.
The Committee expects to continue a dialogue with the
Department of State as it develops the regulations required by
the implementing legislation. The Committee also expects that
the Department of State will be in continuous dialogue with the
parents seeking to adopt and place an emphasis on customer-
friendly initiatives that focus on a streamlined process for
intercountry adoptions while meeting the requirements of the
law.
C. Conditions on Ratification
The resolution of ratification contains several
declarations. The resolution requires that the instrument of
ratification submitted by the United States declare the
Convention to be non-self executing. In the United States,
therefore, the implementing legislation (not the Convention)
will be the basis for decision-making by U.S. courts. In
interpreting obligations, the courts must look to the federal
statute implementing the Convention and not the broad language
of the Hague Convention itself. Although the Committee
understands that the central authority process--particularly
with regard to accreditation of agencies and other persons--has
been developed over several years with input from parents and
adoption service providers of all types and sizes, it fully
expects revisions of the implementing statute will be required
once the United States has gained experience under the central
authority process.
The second declaration for inclusion in the instrument of
ratification is a provision requested by the Executive. Article
22(2) states that Parties to the Convention may declare to the
depositary of the Convention that the functions of the central
authority under all articles of Chapter IV of the Convention,
regarding procedural requirements in intercountry adoption
(except Articles 14 and 22, regarding the basic requirements of
the central authority), may be performed by bodies (adoption
agencies) or persons (attorneys). As stated in the declaration,
this delegation of authority does not eliminate the requirement
to abide by the standards required by the Convention. This
declaration is necessary because the United States will rely
both on adoption agencies and attorneys to carry out adoption
services.
In addition to the standard declarations relating to treaty
interpretation and the Constitution, the resolution of
ratification contains several declarations that are binding on
the Executive but need not be included in the instrument of
ratification. The first prohibits deposit of the instrument of
ratification until such time as the United States is able to
carry out all the obligations of the Convention, as required by
its implementing legislation. The Committee, as noted above,
expects the Administration to implement the Convention as soon
as practicable. However, the United States should not be bound
by the Convention until such time as it is fully able to meet
its commitments under the Convention as set out in U.S. law.
Finally, the resolution contains a sense of the Senate
declaration opposing the inclusion of an Article forbidding
reservations to the Convention. The Committee strongly opposes
the proliferation of such restrictions in treaties and believes
that they undermine the Senate's role in treaty making, as set
out in Article II, section 2 of the Constitution. As stated in
the declaration, the restriction has the effect of inhibiting
the Senate from exercising its constitutional duty to give
advice and consent to a treaty, and the Senate's approval of
this Convention should not be construed as a precedent for
acquiescence to future treaties containing such a provision.
VII. Text of the Resolution of Ratification
Resolved, (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring
therein), That the Senate advise and consent to the
ratification of the Convention on Protection of Children and
Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, adopted and
opened for signature at the conclusion of the seventeenth
session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law on
May 29, 1993 (Treaty Doc. 105-51) (hereinafter, ``The
Convention''), subject to the declarations of subsection (a)
and subsection (b).
(a) Declarations.--The Senate's advice and consent
is subject to the following declarations, which shall
be included in the instrument of ratification:
(1) Non-self executing convention.--The
United States declares that the provisions of
Articles 1 through 39 of the Convention are not
self-executing.
(2) Performance of required functions.--The
United States declares, pursuant to Article
22(2), that in the United States the central
authority functions under Articles 15-21 may
also be performed by bodies or persons meeting
the requirements of Articles 22(2) (a) and (b).
Such bodies or persons will be subject to
federal law and regulations implementing the
Convention as well as state licensing and other
laws and regulations applicable to providers of
adoption services. The performance of central
authority functions by such approved adoption
service providers would be subject to the
supervision of the competent federal and state
authorities in the United States.
(b) Declarations.--The Senate's advice and consent
is subject to the following declarations, which shall
be binding on the President:
(1) Deposit of instrument.--The President
shall not deposit the instrument of
ratification for the Convention until such time
as the federal law implementing the Convention
is enacted and the United States is able to
carry out all the obligations of the
Convention, as required by its implementing
legislation.
(2) Treaty interpretation.--The Senate
affirms the applicability to all treaties of
the constitutionally based principles of treaty
interpretation set forth in Condition (1) of
the resolution of ratification of the INF
Treaty, approved by the Senate on May 27, 1988,
and Condition (8) of the resolution of
ratification of the Document Agreed Among the
States Parties to the Treaty on Conventional
Armed Forces in Europe, approved by the Senate
on May 14, 1997.
(3) Supremacy of the constitution.--Nothing
in the Treaty requires or authorizes
legislation or other action by the United
States of America that is prohibited by the
Constitution of the United States as
interpreted by the United States.
(4) Rejection of no reservations
provision.--It is the Sense of the Senate that
the ``no reservations'' provision contained in
Article 40 of the Convention has the effect of
inhibiting the Senate from exercising its
constitutional duty to give advice and consent
to a treaty, and the Senate's approval of this
Convention should not be construed as a
precedent for acquiescence to future treaties
containing such a provision.
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