[Senate Executive Report 106-14]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



106th Congress                                               Exec. Rpt.
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                      106-14

======================================================================



 
  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\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    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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