Multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General- TREATY I-XVIII--4.asp

4. Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery

Geneva, 7 September 1956


Entry into force:	30 April 1957, in accordance with article 13.
Registration:	30 April 1957, No. 3822.
Status:	Signatories: 35 ,Parties: 122.
Text:	United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 266, p. 3.

Note: The Convention was adopted by the United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries on a Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery. The Conference was convened pursuant to resolution 608 (XXI)¹ of 30 April 1956 of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, and met at the European Office of the United Nations in Geneva from 13 August to 4 September 1956. In addition to the Convention, the Conference adopted the Final Act and two resolutions for the texts of which, see United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 226, p. 3.

PARTICIPANTS


Participant²	Signature	Ratification, Accession (a), Succession (d)
Afghanistan		16 Nov 1966 a
Albania		6 Nov 1958 a
Algeria		31 Oct 1963 a
Antigua and Barbuda		25 Oct 1988 d
Argentina		13 Aug 1964 a
Australia	7 Sep 1956	6 Jan 1958
Austria		7 Oct 1963 a
Azerbaijan		16 Aug 1996 a
Bahamas		10 Jun 1976 d
Bahrain		27 Mar 1990 a
Bangladesh		5 Feb 1985 a
Barbados		9 Aug 1972 d
Belarus	7 Sep 1956	5 Jun 1957
Belgium	7 Sep 1956	13 Dec 1962
Bolivia		6 Oct 1983 a
Bosnia and Herzegovina³		1 Sep 1993 d
Brazil		6 Jan 1966 a
Bulgaria	26 Jun 1957	21 Aug 1958
Cambodia		12 Jun 1957 a
Cameroon		27 Jun 1984 a
Canada	7 Sep 1956	10 Jan 1963
Central African Republic		30 Dec 1970 a
Chile		20 Jun 1995 a
China^4,5,6
Congo		25 Aug 1977 a
Côte d'Ivoire		10 Dec 1970 a
Croatia³		12 Oct 1992 d
Cuba	10 Jan 1957	21 Aug 1963
Cyprus		11 May 1962 d
Czech Republic⁷		22 Feb 1993 d
Democratic Republic of the Congo		28 Feb 1975 a
Denmark	27 Jun 1957	24 Apr 1958
Djibouti		21 Mar 1979 a
Dominica		17 Aug 1994 d
Dominican Republic		31 Oct 1962 a
Ecuador		29 Mar 1960 a
Egypt		17 Apr 1958 a
El Salvador	7 Sep 1956
Ethiopia		21 Jan 1969 a
Fiji		12 Jun 1972 d
Finland		1 Apr 1959 a
France	7 Sep 1956	26 May 1964
Germany^8,9	7 Sep 1956	14 Jan 1959
Ghana		3 May 1963 a
Greece	7 Sep 1956	13 Dec 1972
Guatemala	7 Sep 1956	11 Nov 1983
Guinea		14 Mar 1977 a
Haiti	7 Sep 1956	12 Feb 1958
Hungary	7 Sep 1956	26 Feb 1958
Iceland		17 Nov 1965 a
India	7 Sep 1956	23 Jun 1960
Iran (Islamic Republic of)		30 Dec 1959 a
Iraq	7 Sep 1956	30 Sep 1963
Ireland		18 Sep 1961 a
Israel	7 Sep 1956	23 Oct 1957
Italy	7 Sep 1956	12 Feb 1958
Jamaica		30 Jul 1964 d
Jordan		27 Sep 1957 a
Kuwait		18 Jan 1963 a
Kyrgyzstan		5 Sep 1997 a
Lao People's Democratic Republic		9 Sep 1957 a
Latvia		14 Apr 1992 a
Lesotho		4 Nov 1974 d
Liberia	7 Sep 1956
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya		16 May 1989 a
Luxembourg	7 Sep 1956	1 May 1967
Madagascar		29 Feb 1972 a
Malawi		2 Aug 1965 a
Malaysia		18 Nov 1957 a
Mali		2 Feb 1973 a
Malta		3 Jan 1966 d
Mauritania		6 Jun 1986 a
Mauritius		18 Jul 1969 d
Mexico	7 Sep 1956	30 Jun 1959
Mongolia		20 Dec 1968 a
Montenegro¹⁰		23 Oct 2006 d
Morocco		11 May 1959 a
Nepal		7 Jan 1963 a
Netherlands¹¹	7 Sep 1956	3 Dec 1957
New Zealand¹²		26 Apr 1962 a
Nicaragua		14 Jan 1986 a
Niger		22 Jul 1963 a
Nigeria		26 Jun 1961 d
Norway	7 Sep 1956	3 May 1960
Pakistan	7 Sep 1956	20 Mar 1958
Paraguay		27 Sep 2007 a
Peru	7 Sep 1956
Philippines		17 Nov 1964 a
Poland	7 Sep 1956	10 Jan 1963
Portugal⁶	7 Sep 1956	10 Aug 1959
Romania	7 Sep 1956	13 Nov 1957
Russian Federation	7 Sep 1956	12 Apr 1957
Rwanda		4 Oct 2006 a
Saint Lucia		14 Feb 1990 d
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines		9 Nov 1981 a
San Marino	7 Sep 1956	29 Aug 1967
Saudi Arabia		5 Jul 1973 a
Senegal		19 Jul 1979 a
Serbia³		12 Mar 2001 d
Seychelles		5 May 1992 a
Sierra Leone		13 Mar 1962 d
Singapore		28 Mar 1972 d
Slovakia⁷		28 May 1993 d
Slovenia³		6 Jul 1992 d
Solomon Islands		3 Sep 1981 d
Spain		21 Nov 1967 a
Sri Lanka	5 Jun 1957	21 Mar 1958
Sudan	7 Sep 1956	9 Sep 1957
Suriname		12 Oct 1979 d
Sweden		28 Oct 1959 a
Switzerland		28 Jul 1964 a
Syrian Arab Republic¹³		17 Apr 1958 a
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia³		18 Jan 1994 d
Togo		8 Jul 1980 a
Trinidad and Tobago		11 Apr 1966 d
Tunisia		15 Jul 1966 a
Turkey	28 Jun 1957	17 Jul 1964
Turkmenistan		1 May 1997 a
Uganda		12 Aug 1964 a
Ukraine	7 Sep 1956	3 Dec 1958
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland⁵	7 Sep 1956	30 Apr 1957
United Republic of Tanzania		28 Nov 1962 a
United States of America		6 Dec 1967 a
Uruguay		7 Jun 2001 a
Zambia		26 Mar 1973 d
Zimbabwe		1 Dec 1998 d

DECLARATIONS

Declarations and Reservations

(Unless otherwise indicated, the declarations and reservations were made

upon ratification, accession or succession.)

Bahrain

[See in chapter XVIII.2.]

Territorial Application


Participant:	Date of receipt of the notification:	Territories:
Australia	6 Jan 1958	All the non-self governing, trust and other non-metropolitan territories for the international relations of which Australia is responsible
France	26 May 1964	All the territories of the Republic (Metropolitan France, overseas departments and territories)
Italy	12 Feb 1958	Somaliland under Italian Administration
Netherlands¹¹	3 Dec 1957	Surinam, the Netherlands Antilles and Netherlands New Guinea
New Zealand¹²	26 Apr 1962	The Cook Islands (including Niue) and the Tokelau Islands
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	30 Apr 1957	The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man
United States of America	6 Dec 1967	All territories for the international relations of which the United States of America is responsible

Notifications made under article 12 (2)


Participant:	Date of receipt of the notification:	Territories:
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland⁵^,14^,15	6 Sep 1957	Aden, Bahamas, Barbados, Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Bermuda, British Guiana, British Honduras, Brunei, Cyprus, Falkland Islands, Fiji, Gambia, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Kenya, Antigua, Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis, Virgin Islands, Malta, Mauritius, North Borneo, St. Helena, Sarawak, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somaliland Protectorate, Swaziland, Tanganyika, Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Solomon Islands Protectorate, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Zanzibar, Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Bahrain, Qatar, The Trucial States (Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al Khaimah, Sharjah and Ummal Qaiwain)
	18 Oct 1957	Dominica and Tonga
	21 Oct 1957	Kuwait
	30 Oct 1957	Uganda
	14 Nov 1957	Trinidad and Tobago
	1 Jul 1957	The Federation of Nigeria

NOTES

1. Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, Twenty-first Session, Supplement No. 1 (E/2889), p. 7.

2. The Convention had been signed on behalf of the Republic of Viet-Nam on 7 September 1956. See also note 1 under "Viet Nam" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.

3. The former Yugoslavia had signed and ratified the Convention on 7 September 1956 and 20 May 1958, respectively. See also note 1 under "Bosnia and Herzegovina", "Croatia", "former Yugoslavia", "Slovenia", "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" and "Yugoslavia" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.

4. Signed and ratified on behalf of the Republic of China on 23 May 1957 and 28 May 1959, respectively (note 1 under "China" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume).

In communications addressed to the Secretary-General with reference to the above-mentioned signature and/or ratification, the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of Czechoslovakia, Denmark, India, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Yugoslavia stated that, since their Governments did not recognize the Nationalist Chinese authorities as the Government of China, they could not regard the said signature or ratification as valid. The Permanent Missions of Czechoslovakia and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics further stated that the sole authorities entitled to act for China and the Chinese people in the United Nations and in international relations, and to sign, ratify, accede or denounce treaties, conventions and agreements on behalf of China, were the Government of the People's Republic of China and its duly appointed representatives.

In a note addressed to the Secretary-General, the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations stated that the Government of the Republic of China was the only legal Government which represented China and the Chinese people in international relations and that, therefore, the allegations made in the above-mentioned communica tions as to the lack of validity of the signature or ratification in question had no legal foundation whatever.

5. The Secretary-General received, on 10 June 1999, communications concerning the status of Hong Kong from China and the United Kingdom (see also note 2 under "China" and note 2 under "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" regarding Hong Kong in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume). Upon resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong, China notified the Secretary-General that the Convention will also apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

In addition, the communication by the Government of China also contained the following declaration:

The Government of the People's Republic of China also declares that the signature and ratification by the Taiwan authorities in the name of China on 23 May 1957 and 28 May 1959 respectively of the [said Convention] are all illegal and therefore null and void.

6. On 27 April 1999, the Government of Portugal informed the Secretary-General that the Convention would apply to Macao. On that same date and subsquently on 3 December 1999, the Secretary-General received communications concerning the status of Macao from Portugal and the China (see also note 3 under "China" and note 1 under "Portugal" regarding Macao in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume). Upon resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Macao, China notified the Secretary-General that the Convention will also apply to the Macao Special Administrative Region.

7. Czechoslovakia had signed and ratified the Convention on 7 September 1956 and 13 June 1958, respectively. See also note 1 under "Czech Republic" and note 1 under "Slovakia" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.

8. The German Democratic Republic had acceded to the Convention on 16 July 1974. See also note 2 under "Germany" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.

9. See note 1 under "Germany" regarding Berlin (West) in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.

10. See note 1 under "Montenegro" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.

11. See note 1 under "Netherlands" regarding Aruba/Netherlands Antilles in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.

12. See note 1 under "New Zealand" regarding Tokelau in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.

13. Accession by the United Arab Republic. See note 1 under "United Arab Republic (Egypt/Syria)" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.

14. On 3 October 1983, the Secretary-General received from the Government of Argentina the following objection:

[The Government of Argentina makes a] formal objection to the [declaration] of territorial extension issued by the United Kingdom with regard to the Malvinas Islands (and dependencies), which that country is illegally occupying and refers to as the "Falkland Islands".

The Argentine Republic rejects and considers null and void the [said declaration] of territorial extension.

With reference to the above-mentioned objection, the Secretary-General received, on 28 February 1985, from the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland the following declaration:

"The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have no doubt as to their right, by notification to the Depositary under the relevant provisions of the above-mentioned Convention, to extend the application of the Convention in question to the Falkland Islands or to the Falkland Islands Dependencies, as the case may be.

For this reason alone, the Government of the United Kingdom are unable to regard the Argentine [communication] under reference as having any legal effect."

15. See note 1 under "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.