Compliance Committee

The Compliance Committee is a subsidiary body of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention that was established in 2019 under Article 17 of the Convention.

The Committee has a double mandate to:

• deal with submissions relating to the compliance of an individual Party: The Committee may assist individual Parties in resolving compliance difficulties on receipt of a valid submission;
• review systemic issues of general compliance: The Committee’s work can be initiated on request from the Conference of the Parties, or if the Committee decides based on information from Parties obtained by the Secretariat in carrying out its functions and submitted to the Committee that there is a need to examine the issue and report on it to the Conference of the Parties.

Depending on whether the Committee acts based on its submissions or general compliance mandate determines how it initiates work, the procedures it follows and the possible outcomes of its work.

The amendment to the Convention establishing the Compliance Committee entered into force on 6 November 2020, one year from the date of the depositary’s communication to Parties and Signatories of its adoption.

The Committee is made up of fifteen members, elected by the Conference of the Parties on the basis of equitable geographical representation of the United Nations.

The Committee’s officers – a Chair, Vice-Chair and a Rapporteur – are elected by its members.