World Committee on Tourism Ethics approves Mechanism for Conciliation of Disputes

The World Committee on Tourism Ethics has moved decisively on the way to empowering the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism by adopting procedures for conciliation of disputes as they may arise with regard to its application or interpretation.

The Global Code of Ethics for Tourism is not an international convention, but unlike other legally non-binding declarations, the Code is now operational by virtue of its conciliation function provided for by Article 10, to be carried out by the World Committee on Tourism Ethics.

The procedures were adopted at the second meeting of the Committee, held from 4 to 5 October in Madrid at the Headquarters of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), under the chairmanship of Mr. Diego Cordovez.

Following are some of the procedures agreed to:

- two or more "stakeholders in tourism development" (governments, companies, local communities, etc.) can submit a matter of dispute to the Committee;

- individual stakeholders may also seek the Committee advice on the subject matter of the dispute;

- a report on the matter and provisional recommendations must be prepared by the WTO Secretary-General in a reasonably short time, not exceeding in principle 30 days;

- the Committee considers the file and decides on the recommendations which are communicated to the Parties in the dispute, and on further action, including public communication.

Expressing his satisfaction with this agreement, Mr. Cordovez concluded: "I have full confidence that the WTO Members and other stakeholders in tourism shall recognize the importance of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism and the relevance of the work of our Committee" and added that "the new procedures for consultations and conciliation should play a central role in the settlement of possible disputes of ethical nature in the international tourism community.

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