Pursuant to its Article 15, the Convention was opened for signature at Ottawa, Canada, by all States from 3 December 1997 until 4 December 1997, and at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 5 December 1997 until its entry into force on 1 March 1999.

The Convention is subject to ratification, acceptance or approval of the Signatories, as well as to accession by any State which has not signed it. This means that the State shall formally declare its consent to be bound by the Convention in accordance with its constitutional arrangements for adherence to an international agreement. These constitutional arrangements generally require domestic action by the national parliament. Once the domestic requirements have been completed, the State concerned shall deposit the instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in his capacity as the Convention’s depositary, thus indicating adherence to the Convention (Article 16).

The Convention is signed by 133 States. 161 States have formally agreed to be bound by the Convention.

State parties	Signature	Ratification / Accession
Afghanistan		11.09.2002
Albania	08.09.1998	29.02.2000
Algeria	03.12.1997	09.10.2001
Andorra	03.12.1997	29.06.1998
Angola	04.12.1997	05.07.2002
Antigua and Barbuda	03.12.1997	03.05.1999
Argentina	04.12.1997	14.09.1999
Australia	03.12.1997	14.01.1999
Austria	03.12.1997	29.06.1998
Bahamas	03.12.1997	31.07.1998
Bangladesh	07.05.1998	06.09.2000
Barbados	03.12.1997	26.01.1999
Belarus		03.09.2003
Belgium	03.12.1997	04.09.1998
Belize	27.02.1998	23.04.1998
Benin	03.12.1997	25.09.1998
Bhutan		18.08.2005
Bolivia	03.12.1997	09.06.1998
Bosnia-Herzegovina	03.12.1997	08.09.1998
Botswana	03.12.1997	01.03.2000
Brazil	03.12.1997	30.04.1999
Brunei Darussalam	04.12.1997	24.04.2006
Bulgaria	03.12.1997	04.09.1998
Burkina Faso	03.12.1997	16.09.1998
Burundi	03.12.1997	22.10.2003
Cambodia	03.12.1997	28.07.1999
Cameroon	03.12.1997	19.09.2002
Canada	03.12.1997	03.12.1997
Cape Verde	04.12.1997	14.05.2001
Central African Republic		08.11.2002
Chad	06.07.1998	06.05.1999
Chile	03.12.1997	10.09.2001
Colombia	03.12.1997	06.09.2000
Comoros		19.08.2002
Congo		04.05.2001
Cook Islands	03.12.1997	15.03.2006
Costa Rica	03.12.1997	17.03.1999
Côte d'Ivoire	03.12.1997	30.06.2000
Croatia	04.12.1997	20.05.1998
Cyprus	04.12.1997	17.01.2003
Czech Republic	03.12.1997	26.10.1999
Democratic Republic of the Congo		02.05.2002
Denmark	04.12.1997	08.06.1998
Djibouti	03.12.1997	18.05.1998
Dominican Republic	03.12.1997	30.06.2000
Dominica	03.12.1997	26.03.1999
Ecuador	04.12.1997	29.04.1999
El Salvador	04.12.1997	27.01.1999
Equatorial Guinea		16.09.1998
Eritrea		27.08.2001
Estonia		12.05.2004
Ethiopia	03.12.1997	17.12.2004
Fiji	03.12.1997	10.06.1998
Finland		09.01.2012
France	03.12.1997	23.07.1998
Gabon	03.12.1997	08.09.2000
Gambia	04.12.1997	23.09.2002
Germany	03.12.1997	23.07.1998
Ghana	04.12.1997	30.06.2000
Greece	03.12.1997	25.09.2003
Grenada	03.12.1997	19.08.1998
Guatemala	03.12.1997	26.03.1999
Guinea-Bissau	03.12.1997	22.05.2001
Guinea	04.12.1997	08.10.1998
Guyana	04.12.1997	05.08.2003
Haiti	03.12.1997	15.02.2006
Holy See	04.12.1997	17.02.1998
Honduras	03.12.1997	24.09.1998
Hungary	03.12.1997	06.04.1998
Iceland	04.12.1997	05.05.1999
Indonesia	04.12.1997	16.02.2007
Iraq		15.08.2007
Ireland	03.12.1997	03.12.1997
Italy	03.12.1997	23.04.1999
Jamaica	03.12.1997	17.07.1998
Japan	03.12.1997	30.09.1998
Jordan	11.08.1998	13.11.1998
Kenya	05.12.1997	23.01.2001
Kiribati		07.09.2000
Kuwait		30.07.2007
Latvia		01.07.2005
Lesotho	04.12.1997	02.12.1998
Liberia		23.12.1999
Liechtenstein	03.12.1997	05.10.1999
Lithuania	26.02.1999	12.05.2003
Luxembourg	04.12.1997	14.06.1999
Madagascar	04.12.1997	16.09.1999
Malawi	04.12.1997	13.08.1998
Malaysia	03.12.1997	22.04.1999
Maldives	01.10.1998	07.09.2000
Mali	03.12.1997	02.06.1998
Malta	04.12.1997	07.05.2001
Mauritania	03.12.1997	21.07.2000
Mauritius	03.12.1997	03.12.1997
Mexico	03.12.1997	09.06.1998
Moldova	03.12.1997	08.09.2000
Monaco	04.12.1997	17.11.1998
Montenegro		23.11.2006
Mozambique	03.12.1997	25.08.1998
Namibia	03.12.1997	21.09.1998
Nauru		07.08.2000
Netherlands	03.12.1997	12.04.1999
New Zealand	03.12.1997	27.01.1999
Nicaragua	04.12.1997	30.11.1998
Nigeria		27.09.2001
Niger	04.12.1997	23.03.1999
Niue	03.12.1997	15.04.1998
Norway	03.12.1997	09.07.1998
Palau		19.11.2007
Panama	04.12.1997	07.10.1998
Papua New Guinea		28.06.2004
Paraguay	03.12.1997	13.11.1998
Peru	03.12.1997	17.06.1998
Philippines	03.12.1997	15.02.2000
Poland	04.12.1997	27.12.2012
Portugal	03.12.1997	19.02.1999
Qatar	04.12.1997	13.10.1998
Romania	03.12.1997	30.11.2000
Rwanda	03.12.1997	08.06.2000
Saint Kitts and Nevis	03.12.1997	02.12.1998
Saint Lucia	03.12.1997	13.04.1999
Saint Vincent Grenadines	03.12.1997	01.08.2001
Samoa	03.12.1997	23.07.1998
San Marino	03.12.1997	18.03.1998
Sao Tome and Principe	30.04.1998	31.03.2003
Senegal	03.12.1997	24.09.1998
Serbia		18.09.2003
Seychelles	04.12.1997	02.06.2000
Sierra Leone	29.07.1998	25.04.2001
Slovakia	03.12.1997	25.02.1999
Slovenia	03.12.1997	27.10.1998
Solomon Islands	03.12.1997	26.01.1999
Somalia		16.04.2012
South Africa	03.12.1997	26.06.1998
South Sudan
Spain	03.12.1997	19.01.1999
Sudan	04.12.1997	13.10.2003
Suriname	04.12.1997	23.05.2002
Swaziland	04.12.1997	22.12.1998
Sweden	04.12.1997	30.11.1998
Switzerland	03.12.1997	24.03.1998
Tajikistan		12.10.1999
Tanzania (United Rep.of)	03.12.1997	13.11.2000
Thailand	03.12.1997	27.11.1998
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia		09.09.1998
Timor-Leste		07.05.2003
Togo	04.12.1997	09.03.2000
Trinidad and Tobago	04.12.1997	27.04.1998
Tunisia	04.12.1997	09.07.1999
Turkey		25.09.2003
Turkmenistan	03.12.1997	19.01.1998
Tuvalu		13.09.2011
Uganda	03.12.1997	25.02.1999
Ukraine	24.02.1999	27.12.2005
United Kingdom	03.12.1997	31.07.1998
Uruguay	03.12.1997	07.06.2001
Vanuatu	04.12.1997	16.09.2005
Venezuela	03.12.1997	14.04.1999
Yemen	04.12.1997	01.09.1998
Zambia	12.12.1997	23.02.2001
Zimbabwe	03.12.1997	18.06.1998

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