USC Subchapter XVIII

in effect

22 U.S.C. § 288 “International organization” defined; authority of President

For the purposes of this subchapter, the term “international organization” means a public international organization in which the United States participates pursuant to any treaty or under the authority of any Act of Congress authorizing such participation or making an appropriation for such participation, and which shall have been designated by the President through appropriate Executive order as being entitled to enjoy the privileges, exemptions, and immunities provided in this subchapter. The President shall be authorized, in the light of the functions performed by any such international organization, by appropriate Executive order to withhold or withdraw from any such organization or its officers or employees any of the privileges, exemptions, and immunities provided for in this subchapter (including the amendments made by this subchapter) or to condition or limit the enjoyment by any such organization or its officers or employees of any such privilege, exemption, or immunity. The President shall be authorized, if in his judgment such action should be justified by reason of the abuse by an international organization or its officers and employees of the privileges, exemptions, and immunities provided in this subchapter or for any other reason, at any time to revoke the designation of any international organization under this section, whereupon the international organization in question shall cease to be classed as an international organization for the purposes of this subchapter.

22 U.S.C. § 288a Privileges, exemptions, and immunities of international organizations

International organizations shall enjoy the status, immunities, exemptions, and privileges set forth in this section, as follows: (a) International organizations shall, to the extent consistent with the instrument creating them, possess the capacity—(i) to contract; (ii) to acquire and dispose of real and personal property; (iii) to institute legal proceedings. (b) International organizations, their property and their assets, wherever located, and by whomsoever held, shall enjoy the same immunity from suit and every form of judicial process as is enjoyed by foreign governments, except to the extent that such organizations may expressly waive their immunity for the purpose of any proceedings or by the terms of any contract. (c) Property and assets of international organizations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, unless such immunity be expressly waived, and from confiscation. The archives of international organizations shall be inviolable. (d) Insofar as concerns customs duties and internal-revenue taxes imposed upon or by reason of importation, and the procedures in connection therewith; the registration of foreign agents; and the treatment of official communications, the privileges, exemptions, and immunities to which international organizations shall be entitled shall be those accorded under similar circumstances to foreign governments.

22 U.S.C. § 288b Baggage and effects of officers and employees exempted from customs duties and internal revenue taxes

Pursuant to regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, the baggage and effects of alien officers and employees of international organizations, or of aliens designated by foreign governments to serve as their representatives in or to such organizations, or of the families, suites, and servants of such officers, employees, or representatives shall be admitted (when imported in connection with the arrival of the owner) free of customs duties and free of internal-revenue taxes imposed upon or by reason of importation.

22 U.S.C. § 288c Exemption from property taxes

International organizations shall be exempt from all property taxes imposed by, or under the authority of, any Act of Congress, including such Acts as are applicable solely to the District of Columbia or the Territories.

22 U.S.C. § 288d Privileges, exemptions, and immunities of officers, employees, and their families; waiver

(a) Persons designated by foreign governments to serve as their representatives in or to international organizations and the officers and employees of such organizations, and members of the immediate families of such representatives, officers, and employees residing with them, other than nationals of the United States, shall, insofar as concerns laws regulating entry into and departure from the United States, alien registration and fingerprinting, and the registration of foreign agents, be entitled to the same privileges, exemptions, and immunities as are accorded under similar circumstances to officers and employees, respectively, of foreign governments, and members of their families. (b) Representatives of foreign governments in or to international organizations and officers and employees of such organizations shall be immune from suit and legal process relating to acts performed by them in their official capacity and falling within their functions as such representatives, officers, or employees except insofar as such immunity may be waived by the foreign government or international organization concerned.

22 U.S.C. § 288e Personnel entitled to benefits

(a) Notification to and acceptance by Secretary of State of personnelNo person shall be entitled to the benefits of this subchapter, unless he (1) shall have been duly notified to and accepted by the Secretary of State as a representative, officer, or employee; or (2) shall have been designated by the Secretary of State, prior to formal notification and acceptance, as a prospective representative, officer, or employee; or (3) is a member of the family or suite, or servant, of one of the foregoing accepted or designated representatives, officers, or employees. (b) Deportation of undesirablesShould the Secretary of State determine that the continued presence in the United States of any person entitled to the benefits of this subchapter is not desirable, he shall so inform the foreign government or international organization concerned, as the case may be, and after such person shall have had a reasonable length of time, to be determined by the Secretary of State, to depart from the United States, he shall cease to be entitled to such benefits. (c) Extent of diplomatic statusNo person shall, by reason of the provisions of this subchapter, be considered as receiving diplomatic status or as receiving any of the privileges incident thereto other than such as are specifically set forth herein.

22 U.S.C. § 288f Applicability of reciprocity laws

The privileges, exemptions, and immunities of international organizations and of their officers and employees, and members of their families, suites, and servants, provided for in this subchapter, shall be granted notwithstanding the fact that the similar privileges, exemptions, and immunities granted to a foreign government, its officers, or employees, may be conditioned upon the existence of reciprocity by that foreign government: Provided, That nothing contained in this subchapter shall be construed as precluding the Secretary of State from withdrawing the privileges, exemptions, and immunities provided in this subchapter from persons who are nationals of any foreign country on the ground that such country is failing to accord corresponding privileges, exemptions, and immunities to citizens of the United States.

22 U.S.C. § 288f–1 European Space Agency and Organization of Eastern Caribbean States; extension of privileges, exemptions, and immunities to members

The provisions of this subchapter may be extended to the European Space Agency and to the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (including any office established in the United States by that organization) in the same manner, to the same extent, and subject to the same conditions, as they may be extended to a public international organization in which the United States participates pursuant to any treaty or under the authority of any Act of Congress authorizing such participation or making an appropriation for such participation.

22 U.S.C. § 288f–2 African Union; extension of privileges, exemptions, and immunities

(a) The provisions of this subchapter may be extended to the African Union and may continue to be extended to the International Labor Organization and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in the same manner, to the same extent, and subject to the same conditions, as they may be extended to a public international organization in which the United States participates pursuant to any treaty or under the authority of any Act of Congress authorizing such participation or making an appropriation for such participation. (b) Under such terms and conditions as the President shall determine, consistent with the purposes of this subchapter, the President is authorized to extend, or enter into an agreement to extend, to the African Union Mission to the United States of America, and to its members, the privileges and immunities enjoyed by diplomatic missions accredited to the United States, and by members of such missions, subject to corresponding conditions and obligations.

22 U.S.C. § 288f–3 Immunities for International Committee of the Red Cross

The International Committee of the Red Cross, in view of its unique status as an impartial humanitarian body named in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and assisting in their implementation, shall be considered to be an international organization for the purposes of this subchapter and may be extended the provisions of this subchapter in the same manner, to the same extent, and subject to the same conditions, as such provisions may be extended to a public international organization in which the United States participates pursuant to any treaty or under the authority of any Act of Congress authorizing such participation or making an appropriation for such participation.

22 U.S.C. § 288f–4 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources; extension of privileges, exemptions, and immunities

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources shall be considered to be an international organization for the purposes of this subchapter and may be extended the provisions of this subchapter in the same manner, to the same extent, and subject to the same conditions, as such provisions may be extended to a public international organization in which the United States participates pursuant to any treaty or under the authority of any Act of Congress authorizing such participation or making an appropriation for such participation.

22 U.S.C. § 288f–5 European Central Bank; extension of privileges, exemptions, and immunities

The provisions of this subchapter may be extended to the European Central Bank in the same manner, to the same extent, and subject to the same conditions, as they may be extended to a public international organization in which the United States participates pursuant to any treaty or under the authority of any Act of Congress authorizing such participation or making an appropriation for such participation.

22 U.S.C. § 288f–6 Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; extension of privileges, exemptions, and immunities

The provisions of this subchapter may be extended to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in the same manner, to the same extent, and subject to the same conditions, as they may be extended to a public international organization in which the United States participates pursuant to any treaty or under the authority of any Act of Congress authorizing such participation or making an appropriation for such participation.

22 U.S.C. § 288f–7 Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the International Civilian Office in Kosovo; extension of privileges, exemptions, and immunities

The provisions of this subchapter may be extended to the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (and to its officers and employees) or the International Civilian Office in Kosovo (and to its officers and employees) in the same manner, to the same extent, and subject to the same conditions, as such provisions may be extended to a public international organization in which the United States participates pursuant to any treaty or under the authority of any Act of Congress authorizing such participation or making an appropriation for such participation. Any such extension may provide for the provisions of this subchapter to continue to extend to the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (and to its officers and employees) or the International Civilian Office in Kosovo (and to its officers and employees) after that Office has been dissolved.

22 U.S.C. § 288g Organization of American States; extension of privileges and immunities to members

Under such terms and conditions as he shall determine, the President is hereby authorized to extend, or to enter into an agreement extending, to the representatives of member states (other than the United States) to the Organization of American States and to permanent observers to the Organization of American States, and to members of the staffs of said representatives and permanent observers, the same privileges and immunities, subject to corresponding conditions and obligations, as are enjoyed by diplomatic envoys accredited to the United States.

22 U.S.C. § 288h Commission of European Communities; extension of privileges and immunities to members

Under such terms and conditions as he shall determine and consonant with the purposes of this section, the President is authorized to extend, or to enter into an agreement extending, to the Mission to the United States of America of the Commission of the European Communities, and to members thereof, the same privileges and immunities subject to corresponding conditions and obligations as are enjoyed by diplomatic missions accredited to the United States and by members thereof. Under such terms and conditions as the President may determine, the President is authorized to extend to other offices of the Commission of the European Communities which are established in the United States, and to members thereof— (1) the privileges and immunities described in the preceding sentence; or (2) as appropriate for the functioning of a particular office, privileges and immunities, equivalent to those accorded consular premises, consular officers, and consular employees, pursuant to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

22 U.S.C. § 288i Liaison Office of the People’s Republic of China; extension of privileges and immunities to members

Under such terms and conditions as he shall determine and consonant with the purposes of this section, the President is authorized to extend to the Liaison Office of the People’s Republic of China in Washington and to the members thereof the same privileges and immunities subject to corresponding conditions and obligations as are enjoyed by diplomatic missions accredited to the United States and by members thereof.

22 U.S.C. § 288j International Development Law Institute

For purposes of the International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288 and following), the International Development Law Institute shall be considered to be a public international organization in which the United States participates under the authority of an Act of Congress authorizing such participation.

22 U.S.C. § 288k Extension of certain privileges, exemptions, and immunities to Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices

(a) Application of International Organizations Immunities ActThe provisions of the International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288 et seq.) may be extended to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices in the same manner, to the same extent, and subject to the same conditions as such provisions may be extended to a public international organization in which the United States participates pursuant to any treaty or under the authority of any Act of Congress authorizing such participation or making an appropriation for such participation. (b) Application of international agreement on certain State and local taxationThe President is authorized to apply the provisions of Article I of the Agreement on State and Local Taxation of Foreign Employees of Public International Organizations, done at Washington on April 21, 1994, to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices. (c) “Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices” definedThe term “Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices” refers to Hong Kong’s official economic and trade missions in the United States.

22 U.S.C. § 288l The Holy See

Under such terms and conditions as the President shall determine, the President is authorized to extend, or to enter into an agreement to extend, to the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York, and to its members, the privileges and immunities enjoyed by the diplomatic missions of member states to the United Nations, and their members, subject to corresponding conditions and obligations.