A/HRC/12/34 page 22 consent or agreement of the indigenous peoples concerned. Hence, consultations should occur early in the stages of the development or planning of the proposed measure, so that indigenous peoples may genuinely participate in and influence the decision-making. 66. The principle that indigenous consent should be the objective of consultation does not mean that obtaining consent is an absolute requirement for all situations. In all cases, what fundamentally matters is that a good faith effort by the State is made to achieve agreement. Indigenous peoples, as well, should seek in good faith to reach consensus on proposed measures and avoid inflexible positions when the proposed measures are based on legitimate public interests. 67. Notwithstanding the necessarily variable character of consultation procedures in various contexts, States should define into law consultation procedures for particular categories of activities, such as natural resource extraction activities in, or affecting, indigenous territories. Such mechanisms that are included into laws or regulations, as well as ad hoc mechanisms of consultation, should themselves be developed in consultation with indigenous peoples. 68. Consulting with indigenous peoples on the very elements of the consultation procedure to be employed not only helps to ensure that the procedure is effective, it is also an important, necessary confidence-building measure. Other measures for confidence-building are also needed. 69. In this regard, States should make every effort to allow indigenous peoples to organize themselves and freely determine their representatives for consultation proceedings, and should provide a climate of respect and support for the authority of those representatives. For their part, indigenous peoples should work, when needed, to clarify and consolidate their representative organizations and structures in order that they may function effectively in relation to consultation procedures. 70. States should also develop adequate analyses and impact assessments of proposed legislative or administrative measures, and make them available to the indigenous peoples concerned along with all relevant information well in advance of negotiations. States should also endeavour to ensure that indigenous peoples have adequate technical capacity and financial resources in order to effectively participate in consultations, without using such assistance to leverage or influence indigenous positions in the consultations. 71. Relevant agencies and programmes within the United Nations system, as well as concerned NGOs, should develop ways to provide indigenous peoples with access to the technical capacity and financial resources they need to effectively participate in consultations and related negotiations. 72. Even when private companies, as a practical matter, are the ones promoting or carrying out activities, such as natural resource extraction, that affect indigenous peoples, States maintain the responsibility to carry out or ensure adequate consultations. For their part, as a matter of policy if not legal obligation, private companies should conform their behaviour at all times to relevant international norms concerning the rights of indigenous peoples, including those norms related to consultation.