Hague Convention and Guatemala

For once! and just today (thank you Deanna for the email), the department of state put up a notice (which all of us adoptive Guatemala parents have been checking faithfully) that Guatemala wants to try to follow procedures with the Hague Convention, which will allow the US to continue adoptions with them. Here is news:

May 22, 2007 Guatemalan Congress Confirms Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption We are pleased to learn that the Congress of Guatemala has passedlegislation that confirms Guatemala's membership in the HagueIntercountry Adoption Convention and Guatemala's commitment to setstandards of protection of children in the adoption process. At therequest of the Guatemalan Government, the Hague Permanent Bureau andother Convention countries are prepared to engage in a cooperativeeffort to provide technical assistance in implementing the Convention.We are hopeful that Guatemala will move quickly to pass legislation toimplement the Hague standards, so that we can become Hague Conventionpartner countries when the Convention enters into force for the UnitedStates early next year.

and another excerpt:

Hague Passed in Guatemala- May 22
In a special session of Congress today, the Hague Convention was passed. New articles of accension must be deposited with the Hague and it will take effect three months after that. The treaty is scheduled to go into effect Dec. 31, 2007.
What this means is that Guatemala MUST pass Hague compliant legislation. In reality, this means little more than reaffirming the US's position that Guatemala is in the Hague and setting a domestic deadline for Guatemala to pass and implement new legislation.
This is no reason for concern for in-process families.