Article VII of the Treaty requires each Party to freely exchange information about its activities by giving advance notice of

(a) all expeditions to and within Antarctica, on the part of its ships or nationals, and all expeditions to Antarctica organized in or proceeding from its territory;
(b) all stations in Antarctica occupied by its nationals; and
(c) any military personnel or equipment intended to be introduced by it into Antarctica".

This requirement was later elaborated in various measures of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. The Environment Protocol of 1991 added important information exchange obligations on environmental matters. The information to be submitted can be divided into three categories:

• Pre-season information
• Annual report
• Permanent information

Under direction of the ATCM the Secretariat has developed the Electronic Information Exchange System (EIES) as a central repository for this information.