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ARTICLE XIII The Secretariat 39. The Commission shall establish a Secretariat to serve the Commission and its auxiliary and subsidiary bodies. 40. The Commission shall, subject to such terms and conditions as it may prescribe, appoint a Secretary-General and a Deputy Secretary-General. They shall hold office for five years unless their appointments are earlier terminated by the Commission. They shall be eligible for re-appointment. 41. The Secretary-General shall be the chief administrative officer of the Commission and shall carry out all directions of the Commission. He shall be responsible for the functioning of the Secretariat, and shall be empowered, subject to such directions as he may receive from the Commission, to appoint and dismiss, as necessary, members of the staff of the Secretariat. 42. In the appointment of the Secretary-General, the Deputy SecretaryGeneral and the staff of the Secretariat, primary consideration shall be given to the technical qualifications and personal integrity of candidates. To the fullest extent consistent with this consideration, the staff of the Secretariat shall be appointed from the local inhabitants of the territories within the scope of the Commission and with a view to obtaining equitable national and local representation. 43. Each participating Government undertakes, so far as possible under its constitutional procedure, to accord to the Secretary-General, to the Deputy Secretary-General, to the full time members of the Research Council, and to appropriate members of the staff of the Secretariat such privileges and immunities as may be required for the independent discharge of their functions. The Commission may make recommendations with a view to determining the details of the application of this paragraph or may propose conventions to the participating Governments for this purpose. 44. In the performance of their duties, the Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-General, the full-time members of the Research Council, and the staff of the Secretariat shall not seek or receive instructions from any Government or from any other authority external to the Commission. They shall refrain from any action which might reflect on their position as international officials responsible only to the Commission. 45. Each participating Government undertakes to respect the exclusively international character of the responsibilities of the Secretary-General, the. Deputy Secretary-General, the full-time members of the Research Council, and the staff of the Secretariat, and not to seek to influence them in the discharge of their responsibilities. ARTICLE XIV Finance 46. The Commission shall adopt an annual budget for the administrative expenses of the Commission and its auxiliary and subsidiary bodies, and such supplementary budgets as it may determine. The Secretary-General shall be responsible for preparing and submitting to the Commission for its consideration the annual administrative budget and such supplementary budgets as the Commission may require. 47. Except for the salaries, allowances, and miscellaneous expenditures of the Commissioners and their immediate staffs, which shall be determined and paid by the respective Governments appointing them, the expenses of the Commission and its auxiliary and subsidiary bodies (including the expenses of delegates to the South Pacific Conference on a scale approved by the Commission) shall be a charge on the funds of the Commission.