The Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade can sign a certificate that says if a country is a Contracting State on a certain day or during a certain period. You can also find out if a declaration made under the Cape Town Convention or the Aircraft Protocol is effective in respect of a Contracting State, and what that declaration says. The Secretary's certificate will include this information.

If the Secretary signs or authenticates a certificate, it is proof of what the certificate says. This means you can rely on the certificate for all purposes.

You can find more information about this by looking at the legislation that this provision is compared to, which is the 1990 No 98, section 108.