Sustainable Tourism Law

216 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW – some issues might arise on the method through which the process of legal documents accession should be promoted. It is clear that the choice to structure the Draft International Convention as a unique legal instrument, created by the combination of a base legally binding text ( General provisions ), a limited set of normative Standards (Art. 6 of General provisions) 45 and a series of Recommended practices referred to specific issues (Art. 7 of General provisions) 46 , meets the need to guarantee that the draft Convention has a flexibility that is absolutely necessary to allow Member States and regional economic integration organizations to access a uniform discipline, conveniently adapting its own internal legal framework to the new regulation needs. In this sense, the decision to partly sacrifice the objectives of harmonizing the international legal framework is somehow counterbalanced by the need to facilitate a generalized adoption of the project. It does not represent a problem the fact that the minimum number to be achieved in order to put into force the Convention on the protection of tourists and on the rights and obligations of tourism service providers is established as just ten formal approvals, acceptances or accessions by interested Member States 47 ; as a matter of fact this provision is actually substantially coherent to what is generally established by Treaty law. The most significant obstacle against the creation of a uniform rules system on the issue of travel contracts and tourist protection rather seems to be represented by what is established in Art. 4, par. 1, of General provisions concerning the “ Acceptance of requirements of the Convention ”. It has therefore been declared that ratifying, accepting, approving or accessing the International Convention means States are obligated to accept at least one of the three Annexes that form the text of the draft Convention , to be indicated in the ratification document or through a declaration enclosed to such document 48 . 45 In effect, under Art. 6, “ Standards ”, of the General provisions , “States Parties shall take all necessary measures, in accordance with their national laws and practices, in order to implement the requirements in the standards of this Convention”. 46 The Art. 7, “ Recommended practices ”, of the General provisions , in fact, establishes that “States Parties shall give due consideration to implementing the recommended practices of this Convention” (par. 1). 47 According to Art. 16 General provisions , “this Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day following the date of deposit of the tenth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession” (par. 1), where “any instrument deposited by a regional economic integration organization shall not be counted as additional to those deposited by Member States of that organization” (par. 3). 48 The UNWTO General Secretary holds a record of the information in question and makes it available to all interested parties.