On 22 November 1928, in Paris, the plenipotentiaries assembled in conference from 12 to 22 November signed the Convention Relating to International Exhibitions, subject to ratification. It is not the 1972 Protocol and not the 1988 Amendment. The authentic text is a single original in French, to be deposited in the archives of the Government of the French Republic; certified copies shall be sent through the diplomatic channel to the governments of the countries represented at the Paris Conference. Article 40: the Convention may be signed in Paris until 30 April 1929.

Article 1: the Convention applies only to official or officially recognized international exhibitions, to which other countries are invited through the diplomatic channel, which as a general rule are not periodic, whose principal object is to exhibit the progress of different countries in one or more branches of production, and in which, in principle, no distinction is made between buyers and visitors at the entrance. Exhibitions lasting less than three weeks, scientific exhibitions held on the occasion of international congresses within that duration, fine-arts exhibitions, and exhibitions organized by one country in another at the latter's invitation are excluded. Article 2 distinguishes general from special exhibitions. Article 3: the duration shall not exceed six months; the Bureau may authorize a general exhibition for a longer period, never exceeding twelve months.

Article 4 fixes frequency: in the same country, not more than one first-category general exhibition (with an obligation to build national pavilions) in fifteen years; ten years shall separate two general exhibitions of any category. A Contracting country may take part in a first-category general exhibition only if it is held at least six years after the previous first-category general exhibition; for the second category, two years, which may be four for exhibitions of the same kind. Special exhibitions of the same kind shall not take place at the same time in the territories of the Contracting countries and, in the same country, shall not be repeated until five years have elapsed, reducible in exceptional cases to three. Article 8: registration with the Bureau at least six months before the invitation periods in Article 5.

Article 10 establishes the International Exhibitions Bureau, comprising an Administrative Council, a Classification Commission and a director. The first meeting of the Council shall be convened in Paris by the Government of the French Republic in the year following entry into force; the Council shall fix the seat of the Bureau and elect the director. Article 12: each country has one vote; a two-thirds quorum; a two-thirds majority for regulations, an increase of the budget, competing applications and a general exhibition lasting more than six months. Article 14: a provisional budget of 4,000 pounds sterling, contributions modelled on those of the League of Nations.

Article 33: ratifications shall be deposited in the archives of the French Government; when seven governments have declared themselves ready, the deposit shall take place in the following month, on the date fixed by France, recorded in a procès-verbal also signed by the French Minister for Foreign Affairs. Article 36: for the countries taking part in the first deposit, the Convention shall enter into force one month after the date of that procès-verbal. The first deposit was recorded on 17 December 1930; the Convention entered into force on 17 January 1931. Article 35 allows accession after entry into force. Article 37: denunciation only after five years, taking effect one year later. Article 38: if the number of Contracting countries falls below seven, France shall convene an international conference.

It is not the Protocol of 10 May 1948, not the Protocol of 30 November 1972 and not the Amendment of 31 May 1988.

Image: Hotel of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Quai d Orsay, depositary of the convention; Ibex73, 16 September 2017; CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Convention Relating to International Exhibitions. Treaty text: Convention regarding International Exhibitions, Paris, 22 November 1928.