Electronic Information Exchange System
The Representatives,

Recalling Article III (1) a and Article VII (5) of the Antarctic Treaty;

Recalling Article 17 and other Articles of the Protocol on Environmental Protection and of its Annexes with commitments to exchange information;

Recalling Recommendation VIII-6 (1975), Recommendation XIII-3 (1985) and other improvements that the Parties have made with respect to keeping each other informed by regular or occasional exchanges;

Recalling Decision 10 (2005) on the establishment of an Electronic Information Exchange System (EIES);

Reminding Parties of their obligation under Article III (1) a and Article VII (5) of the Antarctic Treaty and Article 17 and other Articles of the Protocol on Environmental Protection and of its Annexes to provide information to the other Parties;

Noting the completion of the development of the EIES by the Secretariat, having taken into account the comments made by Parties during the trial period;

Desiring to ensure that the exchange of information between the Parties is conducted in the most efficient and timely way, and that the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting and the Committee for Environmental Protection have access to the most comprehensive and authoritative information about Antarctica;

Decide to:

1. direct the Secretariat to begin the operation of the EIES on 15 September 2008 with the collection of the pre-season information for the 2008/09 season; and

2. ask the Secretariat to make the information submitted to the EIES publicly available through the Secretariat website as soon as practicable.