21. States Parties that recognize and / or permit the
system of adoption shall ensure that the best interests of the child shall be
the paramount consideration and they shall:
a) Ensure that the adoption of a child is authorized only by
competent authorities who determine, in accordance with applicable law and
procedures and on the basis of all pertinent and reliable information, that the
adoption is permissible in view of the child’s status concerning parents,
relatives and legal guardians and that, if required, the persons concerned have
given their informed consent to the adoption on the basis of such counselling as
may be necessary;
b) Recognize that inter-country adoption may be considered as an
alternative means of child’s care, if the child cannot be placed in a foster or
an adoptive family or cannot in any suitable manner be cared for in the child’s
country of origin;
c) Ensure that the child concerned by inter-country adoption
enjoys safeguards and standards equivalent to those existing in the case of
national adoption;
d) Take all appropriate measures to ensure that, in inter-country
adoption, the placement does not result in improper financial gain for those
involved in it;
e) Promote, where appropriate, the objectives of the present
article by concluding bilateral or multilateral arrangements or agreements, and
endeavour, within this framework, to ensure that the placement of the child in
another country is carried out by competent authorities or organs.