03.01.06 Update on the Hague Convention

A History of the Convention as well as Information on the Upcoming Public Meeting, March 12

A History of the Convention

(From the U.S. Department of State's Website)
The Hague Convention is a multilateral treaty that is intended to protect the children, birth parents and adoptive parents involved in intercountry adoptions and to prevent abuses.  The final text of the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention) was approved by 66 nations on May 29, 1993 at The Hague.  The Convention covers adoptions among countries that become parties to it and sets out for such adoptions certain internationally agreed-upon minimum norms and procedures.  On May 1, 1995, the Convention entered into force between the first three countries that ratified it: Mexico, Romania, and Sri Lanka.  As of November 2005, 70 countries had become parties to the Convention.

The United States signed the Convention on March 31, 1994, signaling its intent to proceed with efforts to ratify the Convention.  In Summer 1998, President Clinton transmitted the Convention, with an article-by-article legal analysis of its provisions, to the U.S. Senate for advice and consent to ratification.  At the same time, the Administration transmitted to Congress draft implementing legislation that had been prepared by an interagency committee with significant input from the adoption community.

Please visit the Dept. of State's website
for the complete history of the Convention >

Public Meeting on the Final Rule on Accreditation of Agencies and Approval of Persons Under the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000

(From the U.S. Department of State's Website)
The Bureau of Consular Affairs, Office of Children’s Issues, will hold a public information meeting on the final rule on Accreditation of Agencies and Approval of Persons Under the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (22 CFR Part 96). The final rule, published in the Federal Register on February 15, 2006, is a key step in implementing the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Convention). The full text of the rule is at http://www.regulations.gov/ .

Date:  Friday, March 17, 2006
Time : 10:00 AM 12:00 PM
Location: Department of State, Harry S Truman Building
                23 rd St. NW entrance
                Washington, D.C. 20520
                Loy Henderson Conference Room

Office of Children’s Issues officers will be available to answer questions about the regulations on accreditation of agencies and approval of persons, and on the final rule on the Federal Government’s preservation of Hague Convention records (22 CFR Part 98), also published in the Federal Register on February 15, 2006.

The purpose of this informal public meeting is to help interested individuals and organizations to better understand the provisions of the final rule and the process by which adoption service providers will be accredited and approved to provide adoption services in accordance with the Hague Adoption Convention and its implementing legislation, the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (IAA). Guests are encouraged to submit questions in advance either by email to AdoptionUSCA@state.gov , or by fax to (202) 647-6201.

Please visit the Dept. of State's website for more information >