to create an international Search & Rescue (SAR) instrument for the Arctic by the next meeting in 2011. In Nuuk, Greenland on May 12, 2011, ministers signed a Search & Rescue agreement, the Arctic Council's first law-bound treaty. At the Arctic Council ministerial meeting on April 24, 2015, a Task Force on Arctic Marine Cooperation was created to consider future needs for cooperation on Arctic marine issues. Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region (CPAR) is a parliamentary body comprising delegations appointed by the national parliaments of the Arctic states (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States) and the European Parliament. The conference also includes Indigenous peoples groups as Permanent Participants, and observers. The conference meets every two years, last in Oslo June 7, 2010. Between conferences the Arctic parliamentary cooperation is carried on by a Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region, which started its activities in 1994. The five Arctic Ocean coastal states Foreign ministers of the five Arctic Ocean coastal states (Russia, US, Canada, Norway, and Denmark (Greenland)) met: May 27 – 29, 2008 in Greenland: Ilulissat Declaration. This meeting is known as the Arctic Ocean Conference. March 29, 2010 in Quebec: Chair Summary International Maritime Organization The International Maritime Organization (IMO) was established in 1948 to develop and maintain a comprehensive regulatory framework for shipping. The IMO spent years negotiating an Arctic Code for shipping, but for many years, the Code was only set of voluntary Guidelines for Ships Operating in Arctic Ice-Covered Waters (adopted in 2002). The Guidelines provide uniform safety, pollution prevention, and security standards for ocean carriers. However, on 1 January 2017, the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters entered into force and is mandatory for all ships in Arctic waters over 500 tonnes. The World Winter Cities Association for Mayors The World Winter Cities Association for Mayors (WWCAM) is a network of international winter cities that convene to discuss winter technologies, experiences, and implications for city planning under the guiding philosophy of “Winter is a Resource and an Asset”. The Association, formerly known as the Northern Intercity Conference of Mayors, was founded in 1981 by the city of Sapporo, Japan. As of April 2012, 19 cities from 9 countries participate as members. The seventeenth conference is scheduled for Sapporo in 2016. Regional Arctic cooperative organizations Nordic Council The