This bill, called the PARTNER Act, gives the President the power to grant special diplomatic status to five major international organizations. Right now, only certain international groups get what's called "diplomatic privileges and immunities"—basically special legal protections that let their officials and offices operate without being subject to local laws or taxes. This bill would allow the President to extend those same protections to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), CERN (the European nuclear research organization), the Pacific Islands Forum, the Caribbean Community, and the African Union.

What this means in practical terms: officials from these organizations working in the United States would get protections similar to what foreign diplomats receive. Their offices could operate more freely, and they'd have certain legal exemptions. For the African Union specifically, the bill goes a bit further by giving its permanent observer mission to the United Nations in New York the same privileges that UN member countries' missions enjoy.

The bill essentially recognizes these regional and international organizations as important enough partners that the President should have the flexibility to treat them more like official diplomatic entities. However, the President gets to decide exactly when and how to grant these privileges, so it's not automatic—it gives the executive branch discretion to work out the specific terms with each organization.

PARTNER Act

Castro, Joaquin

Providing Appropriate Recognition and Treatment Needed to Enhance Relations Act or the PARTNER ActThis bill authorizes the President to extend diplomatic immunities and privileges provided by the International Organizations Immunities Act, including immunity from certain lawsuits and exemption from property taxes, to specified international regional and research organizations.&nbsp;Specifically, the bill authorizes the President to extend these immunities and privileges to<ul><li>the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a regional organization with 10 members including Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam;</li><li>the Pacific Islands Forum, a regional organization with 18 members including Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea;</li><li>the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), a regional organization with 15 members and 6 associate members including Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, and Saint Lucia; and</li><li>the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), an international research organization focused on particle physics.</li></ul>The bill also authorizes the President to extend to the permanent observer mission of the African Union to the United Nations the privileges and immunities provided to permanent missions to the United Nations of member states.