Article 86. Effective date and force of the Code

86.1. Effective date

This (the fourth) edition of the Code comes into force on 1 January 2000.

86.1.1. If an author takes action under Articles 23.9, 65.2.3 or 70.3 to preserve usage of a name, but the action is published before 1 January 2000, a subsequent author must not set that action aside on the grounds that it was published before 1 January 2000; if it is considered necessary, the Commission should be asked to confirm the action (and is empowered to do so without giving advance notice).

86.1.2. If an author submits for publication before 1 January 2000 a work containing names or nomenclatural acts proposed under the provisions of the third (1985) edition of the Code which was then in force, but the work is not published until after 31 December 1999, the names or acts are not to be set aside on the grounds that they do not comply with the changed provisions of the fourth edition. The Commission should be asked to validate the names or acts (and is empowered to do so without giving advance notice).

86.2. Force of texts

The English and French texts of the Code are official texts and are equivalent in force, meaning and authority (see also Article 87).

86.3. Force of previous Rules and Codes

The rules governing zoological nomenclature contained in former editions of the International Rules of Zoological Nomenclature and of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, and any amendments affecting the Code, have no force unless reaffirmed in this edition, and then only as herein expressed.

^{Recommendation 86A. New names and type fixations submitted for publication during 1999. To avoid proposals of new names or fixations of name-bearing types being invalid as a consequence of not being published before 1 January 2000 (when this edition of the Code comes into force), authors and editors of works submitted during 1999 are advised to ensure that the works will meet the requirements of this edition.}