Treaty Database Topics Thesaurus
(rev. April 1999)
TOPIC GROUPS
Administration 9
Aid 4
Communications 6
Culture 7
Diplomacy 1
Economics 3
Resources 8
Transport 5
Welfare 2
TOPICS
DETAILED, ANNOTATED LISTING
1. Diplomacy
Matters with long-range policy
implications, normally decided at the chief-of-government level.
1ALLY Alliance
Description Military alliances, possibly
including non-military matters.
See Also 1AMITY for friendship treaties
4MILIT for military aid
Examples
Mutual defense
1AMITY Amity
Description Friendship, general relations, and
matters concerning more than one topic in the Topic Group.
See Also 1ALLY
Examples
Basic cooperation between two
countries
Cooperation in culture, science, and
technology
Friendship and cooperation
Science, technology and economic
cooperation
1ARMCO Arms Control
Description Arms control and disarmament,
including safeguards for operation of nuclear reactors.
See Also 1PEACE for termination of
hostilities.
Examples
Application of nuclear safeguards
Application of safeguards to nuclear
materials
Atomic energy standards
Limitation of strategic arms
1CHART UN Membership
Description Acceptance of obligations of UN
charter.
See Also
Examples
Acceptance of UN charter
Adherence to UN charter
1DISPU Dispute Settlements
Description Formal procedural and substantive
resolutions of legal and political controversies.
See Also
Examples
Establishment of arbitration board
Frontier dispute
Judicial settlements
Methods for negotiation/arbitration
Submission of dispute to ICJ
Negotiation
guidelines
1ESTAB IGO Establishment
Description Establishment of an international
government organization (IGO).
See Also 1HEAD for the establishment of a
regional office of an already existing IGO.
Examples
Establishment of an
agency/service/fund/group
1HEAD IGO Headquarters
Description Establishment of an IGO headquarters,
and relations between it and the host country.
See Also
Examples
Establish a regional
office/headquarters/field office
Legal status of office in host
country
1OCCUP Military Occupation
Description Belligerent occupation.
See Also 1STATU for peacetime military forces
in foreign countries.
Examples
Occupation conclusion
Occupation costs
Withdrawal of troops
1OPTC International Court of Justice Clause
Description Acceptance of compulsory jurisdiction
of the International Court of Justice(ICJ).
Treaties entered under this topic are
all Unilateral.
See Also
Examples
Acceptance of ICJ jurisdiction
1PEACE Peace/Armistice
Description Termination of war or hostilities.
See Also 1ARMCO
Examples
Amendment of peace treaty
Cessation of hostilities
Disengagement of forces
General armistice
1RECOG Diplomacy/Recognition
Description Diplomatic relations and recognition,
independence of new states, acceptance of treaty
obligations.
See Also
Examples
Establish diplomatic relations
Foreign policy cooperation
Inheritance of treaty rights and
obligations
Recognition
Upgrade missions to embassies
1REPAR Reparations
Description Post-war reparation settlements. These are on a global or country-to-country
level, and would often involve one country giving another country some lump sum
of money to pay for damages.
See Also 3CLAIM for reparations to individuals
within a country.
Examples
Compensation for property loss
Compensation of war victims
Settlement of war claims
1STATU Status of Forces
Description Peacetime status of foreign military
forces.
See Also 1OCUP for military occupation
9MILMI for military missions
9PRIVI for military privileges
Examples
Stationing of military units
Transitional authority of the UN
UN Peacekeeping forces
1TERRI Territorial Limits
Description National land and water boundaries
determined by political decisions.
See Also 9BOUND for boundary maintenance, for
routine administrative matters.
Examples
Delimitation of continental shelf
Demarcation
or delimitation of boundaries
Frontier agreement
1TRUST UN Trusteeship
Description Establishment or operation of a UN
trusteeship. Does not involve money in
trust.
See Also
Examples
Establishment of operation of UN
trusteeship
2.
Welfare
Matters falling broadly within the
scope of government agencies in charge of labor, health, and welfare.
2HEW General Welfare
Description Matters concerning more than one
topic in this group.
See Also
Examples
Social cooperation
2HUMAN Relief/Rescue
Description Humanitarian relief and rescue
relating to shipwrecks, floods, earthquakes and other disasters. These involve short-term assistance for
particular disasters that have occurred.
See Also 9ADMIN
for disaster preparation in general
Examples
Coordination of disaster relief
Emergency food relief program
Relief supplies
Search and rescue cooperation
2LABOR Labor
Description Includes migratory labor, trade
unions, and internships.
See Also 7EDUC for culture
4EDUC for educational aid
Examples
Exchange of student employees of
workers
Migrant workers' regulations
Recruitment of workers
Temporary employment of workers
Trainee exchange
Workers' health of safety
Maternity
leave
2NARK Narcotics Control
Description Control of illegal drug production
and traffic.
See Also
Examples
Curbing of illicit drug production
and traffic
Narcotics
traffic
2REFUG Refugees
Description Refugees and repatriation.
See Also 9CITIZ
Examples
Housing of refugees
Movement of refugees
Protection of refugees
Repatriation of refugees
2SANIT Human Health
Description Disease control, public health,
projects or techniques to aid public health and sanitation.
See Also 4MEDIC for medical aid.
Examples
Blood banks
Cooperation in health and medicine
Corpses
Project on food processing effects
Public health and medical research
Sanitation of meat exports
Sanitation of shellfish
2SECUR Social Security
Description Social security, retirements, old age
benefits, disability, unemployment compensation.
See Also
Examples
Insurance of migrant workers
Old age insurance
Pension plan
Transfer of pension rights
2WOMEN Status of Women
Description Legal status of women and issues of
women's equality.
See Also
Examples
White slave traffic
Women's
legal rights
Women's voting rights
3.
Economics
Matters that are
primarily economic in the sense of traditional international trade and
payments. But for aid-supported
transactions, see 4. Aid.
3CLAIM Claims, Debts, Assets
Description Claims regarding particular debts and
assets, mainly concerning retrospective settlement. Claims for damages are analogous to a US suit for
damages.)
See Also 4AID
Examples
Claims for damages
Commercial debts
Consolidation of debts
Disposal of excess property
Release of assets
Repayment of loans
Transfer of assets
Unblocking of funds
3COMMO Raw Materials Trade
Description Trade in specific commodities, e. g.
aluminum, cotton, rubber, fish, meat, phosphates, wool.
See Also 3PROD for finished goods trade
3TRADE for treaties about general trade
Examples
Cereals production and trade
Cheese
Long-term wheat agreement
Meat imports
Sale of vegetable oil
Sugar
3CUSTO Customs Duties
Description Custom rates and tariffs.
See Also
Examples
Customs concessions
Duty free quotas
Free ports and free zones
Goods in border traffic
Restriction and control of imports
Interim
GATT (when it deals mostly with customs)
Mutual
cooperation
3ECON Economic Cooperation
Description General economic cooperation and
matters not covered elsewhere, or concerning more than one topic in Topic Group
3.
See Also
Examples
Economic relations
Financial cooperation
GATT
Joint stock transfers
Non-commercial payments
Economic,
industrial, and/or technical cooperation
3INDUS Industry
Description Factories or entire industrial
sectors.
See Also 8METAL for processing of metals as natural
resources
Examples
Construction of factory
Cooperation in industrial sectors
Industrial development
Industrial property
Light/heavy industries
Mining industries
3INVES Investment Guarantee
Description General guarantees for protection of
investments.
See Also 4LOAN for financial aid.
Examples
Encouragement and protection of
investments
Foreign investment insurance
Guarantees
Investment promotion
3MOSTF Most Favored Nation Status
Description Traditional most-favored nation
treatment as the main function of a treaty, rather than as an incidental
clause.
See Also
Examples
Free trade and preferential treatment
Most favored nation treatments for
ships/workers
Waiver of MFN clause
3PATEN Patents and Copyrights
Description Patents, copyrights, trademarks,
intellectual property.
See Also
Examples
Inventions and trademarks
Marks of origin
Mutual copyright protection
Trademark registration
3PAYMT Payments and Currency
Description Routine commercial payments and
exchange rates.
See Also 3TRAPA for Trade and Payments
3CLAIM for commercial debts
Examples
Amortization
Banking
Currency movements and exchange rates
Deferred payments