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1. In case of a dispute between Contracting Parties as to the interpretation or application of this Convention or its protocols, they shall seek a settlement of the dispute through negotiation or any other peaceful means of their own choice.
2. If the Contracting Parties concerned cannot settle their dispute through the means mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the dispute shall upon common agreement, except as may be otherwise provided in any protocol to this Convention, be submitted to arbitration under the conditions set out in the Annex on Arbitration. However, failure to reach common agreement on submission of the dispute to arbitration shall not absolve the Contracting Parties from the responsibility of continuing to seek to resolve it by the means referred to in paragraph I.
3. A Contracting Party may at any time declare that it recognizes as compulsory ipso facto and without special agreement, in relation to any other Contracting Party accepting the same obligation, the application of the arbitration procedure set out in the Annex on Arbitration. Such declaration shall be notified in writing to the Depositary, who shall communicate it to the other Contracting Parties.