The Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty

The Antarctic Treaty operated without any continuing institution until 1 September 2004, when the Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty was established and based in Buenos Aires.

Under direction of the ATCM, the Secretariat carries out the tasks specified in Measure 1 (2003), which can be summarized under the following headings:

• Supporting the annual Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) and the meeting of the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP).
• Facilitating the exchange of information between the Parties required in the Treaty and the Environment Protocol.
• Collecting, storing, archiving and making available the documents of the ATCM.
• Providing and disseminating information about the Antarctic Treaty system and Antarctic activities.

The Secretariat at present has a permanent staff of nine persons, assisted by support and project staff.