Legal status

Pursuant to Article 22 of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Charter (OIC), it may establish Subsidiary Organs, Specialized Institutions and grant affiliated status after the approval of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM).

Resolution No. 3/39-E on the establishment of the OIC food security institution in Kazakhstan was adopted by the 39th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of OIC, held in Djibouti, Republic of Djibouti on 15-17 November 2012.

The Statute of the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS) was adopted by the 40th Council of Foreign Ministers, held in Conakry, Republic of Guinea on 9-11 December 2013.

According to Clause 1 of Article 21, the IOFS Statute enters into full legal force upon the 30th day from the date of submission of the 10th instrument of ratification or acceptance. The submission of the 10th instrument of ratification took place on 19 February 2018.

The establishment of the IOFS as an institute took place during the 7th session of the Ministerial Conference of the OIC on Food Security and Agricultural Development and the constituent session of the IOFS General Assembly on April 28, 2016, in Astana.

MEMBER STATES OF IOFS

At present, IOFS is comprised of 36 countries out of 57 OIC states, 16 of which ratified the Statute. Every member state of the OIC may become a member of the IOFS upon signage of the Statute and completion of legal formalities of the membership in accordance with its national legislation and informing the IOFS in written form.

LEGAL CAPACITY OF IOFS

The IOFS is a specialized institution of the OIC and enjoys the status of a fully-fledged legal entity of an international organization, using its legal capacity to exercise its functions and fulfil its objectives as defined in the Statute.

ORGANS OF IOFS

The IOFS is overseen by a four-level governance structure:

  1. The General Assembly, that is attended by the Ministers of the IOFS Member States responsible for food security, representatives of the OIC Member States, and international organisations as guests. The General Assembly is convened once a year.
  2. The Executive Board, which consists of eight representatives elected every three years, with Kazakhstan being a permanent member. One post is allocated for Director-General of the IOFS Secretariat. The Executive Board sessions are held twice a year.
  3. The Financial Control Committee is composed of three member countries: Kazakhstan, UAE and Bangladesh.
  4. The Secretariat, that is headed by Director-General. The Secretariat of the Islamic Organization for Food Security is located in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan.

RECOGNITION OF IOFS IN JURISDICTION OF KAZAKHSTAN

The IOFS is overseen by a four-level governance structure:

  1. Pursuant to clause 3 Article 4 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan International treaties ratified by the Republic of Kazakhstan take precedence over its national laws.
  2. Pursuant to clause 2 Article 6 of the Law on Legal Acts № 480-V International treaties ratified by the Republic of Kazakhstan take precedence over its laws and are applied immediately, unless the international treaty implies that its application requires enactment of the law.
  3. Pursuant to clause 6 Article 1 of the Law on International Treaties № 54-III an international treaty of the Republic of Kazakhstan implies an international agreement concluded by the Republic of Kazakhstan with a foreign state/states or international organization/organizations in written form governed by international law.

Thus, the IOFS Statute was ratified by Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated November 21, 2014, No. 256-V.

An agreement on headquarters between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the IOFS was ratified by Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated November 20, 2017, No. 110-VI.

The IOFS was registered in Astana within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan by Note 16-1/2873 on 28 November 2017.