On November 16th, President Bush signed Congress’ ratification of the Hague Convention on International Adoption. This Convention was negotiated in 2000, and aims to prevent improper adoptions and promote the integrity of international adoptions. The U.S. will officially become a member of the Hague Convention on April 1st, 2008. As of that date, the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security will become much more involved in intercountry adoptions. The Department of State will be designated as the central authority for intercountry adoptions in the United States and will be responsible for making sure that the Convention is implemented as required. In order to implement the Convention, the Department of State will need to accredit U.S. adoption service providers, maintain a registry of adoption cases and implement a system of receiving complaints and comments about accredited adoption service providers.