ATCM

The Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) is the principal governance body of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS). It convenes the parties to the 1959 Antarctic Treaty to exchange information, consult on matters of common interest, and recommend measures to their governments to further the treaty's principles and objectives, as set out in Article IX of the treaty.

Participants fall into two categories. Consultative Parties have decision-making rights and include the 12 original signatories (Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the USSR/Russia, the UK, and the US) plus states that have demonstrated substantial scientific research activity in Antarctica. Non-Consultative Parties may attend but do not vote. Observers from the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), and the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) also participate, alongside invited experts from bodies such as ASOC and IAATO.

Decisions are taken by consensus and come in three instruments of differing legal weight: Measures (legally binding once approved by all Consultative Parties), Decisions (on internal organizational matters), and Resolutions (hortatory). The ATCM also oversees implementation of the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (the Madrid Protocol), which designates Antarctica as a "natural reserve, devoted to peace and science" and prohibits mineral resource activities other than scientific research.

Meetings were held biennially from 1961 until 1994, when they became annual. The ATCM works alongside the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP), established under the Madrid Protocol, which provides advice on environmental matters. The permanent Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, headquartered in Buenos Aires since 2004, supports the ATCM's work.

Recurring agenda items include tourism management, bioprospecting, climate change impacts, area protection (ASPAs and ASMAs), inspections under Article VII, and search-and-rescue coordination.