Antarctic Treaty Secretariat

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ATS logo.

The Antarctic Treaty Secretariat is an organization created on September 2004 by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) for the management of several ATCM tasks such as the support of the annual meeting of signatory countries of the Antarctic Treaty, and the publication of the ATCM annual report.

Other activities include the support between sessions for the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP), improving the communication between signatories of the treaty, as well as recompilation, storage and distribution of information, such as the ATCM and CEP records.

The organization's Executive Secretary is currently Johannes Huber.

The Secretariat Headquarters are established in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Antarctic Treaty operated without any permanent institution until 1 September, 2004, when the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat was established in Buenos Aires. Under direction of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, the Secretariat works to:
• Prepare and support the ATCM and other meetings
• Collect, maintain and publish the records of the ATCM
• Facilitate the exchange of information between the Parties required under the Treaty and the Protocol
• Provide information about the Antarctic Treaty system to the public.