Article 20
Other Action
Any other action relating to the application of the laws of intellectual property may be
entrusted to the Organization by unanimous decision of the Administrative Council.
TITLE II
MEMBER STATES
Section I
Membership
Article 21
Membership
(1) Membership of the Organization shall be determined by the principle of the
sovereign equality of States.
(2) In addition to its members, the Organization may have associated States.
Associated States are not member States.
Article 22
Member States
(1) African States party to the Bangui Agreement of March 2, 1977, are members of the
Organization ex officio.
(2) Any African State that is not party to the Bangui Agreement but is party to the
Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, the Paris Convention
for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary
and Artistic Works and/or the Universal Copyright Convention, and the Patent Cooperation
Treaty may accede to this Agreement.
To that end, an application for accession shall be submitted to the Administrative
Council, which shall rule by a majority vote of its members. Notwithstanding Article 32 of
this Agreement, equally divided votes shall constitute rejection.
(3) Instruments of ratification of or accession to this Agreement shall be deposited with
the Director General of the Organization.
(4) Accession shall take effect two months after the deposit referred to in paragraph (3)
above, except where a later date has been specified in the instrument of accession.
Article 23
Associated States
(1) Any African State not party to this Agreement may acquire the status of associated
State by filing an application to that end with the Administrative Council.
(2) The Administrative Council shall rule on that application in the same way as
provided in Article 22(2) above.