Mandate

The procedures and mechanisms on compliance with the Rotterdam Convention are set out below and were adopted as Annex VII to the Convention by the ninth meeting of the Conference of Parties (Decision RC-9/7).

Procedures and Mechanisms on Compliance – Annex VII  

Procedures and mechanisms on compliance with the Rotterdam Convention

1. A compliance committee (hereinafter referred to as “the Committee”) is hereby established.

Members

2. The Committee shall consist of 15 members. Members shall be nominated by Parties and elected by the Conference of the Parties on the basis of equitable geographical representation of the five regional groups of the United Nations.

Election of members

4. At its first meeting after the entry into force of the present annex, the Conference of the Parties shall elect eight members of the Committee for one term and seven members for two terms. The Conference of the Parties shall, at each ordinary meeting thereafter, elect for two full terms new members to replace those members whose period of office has expired or is about to expire. Members shall not serve for more than two consecutive terms. For the purpose of the present annex, “term” shall mean the period that begins at the end of one ordinary meeting of the Conference of the Parties and ends at the end of the next ordinary meeting of the Conference of the Parties.

Officers

6. The Committee shall elect its own chair. A vice-chair and a rapporteur shall be elected, on a rotating basis, by the Committee in accordance with rule 30 of the rules of procedure of the Conference of the Parties.

Meetings

7. The Committee shall hold meetings as necessary and wherever possible in conjunction with meetings of the Conference of the Parties or other Convention bodies.

9. Where a submission is made with regard to the possible non-compliance of a Party, it shall be invited to participate in the consideration of the submission by the Committee. Such a Party, however, may not take part in the elaboration and adoption of a recommendation or conclusion of the Committee in relation to the matter.

10. The Committee shall make every effort to reach agreement on all matters of substance by consensus. Where this is not possible, the report shall reflect the views of all Committee members. If all efforts to reach consensus have been exhausted and no agreement has been reached, any decision shall, as a last resort, be taken by a four-fifths majority of the members present and voting or by eight members, whichever is greater. Ten members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum.

11. Each member of the Committee shall, in respect of any matter that is under consideration by the Committee, avoid direct or indirect conflicts of interest. When a member finds himself or herself faced with a direct or indirect conflict of interest, or is a citizen of a Party whose compliance is in question, that member shall bring the issue to the attention of the Committee before consideration of the matter. The concerned member shall not participate in the elaboration and adoption of a recommendation of the Committee in relation to that matter.

12. Submissions may be made in writing, through the Secretariat, by:

1. A Party that believes that, despite its best endeavours, it is, or will be, unable to comply with certain obligations under the Convention. Such a submission should include details as to which specific obligations are concerned and an assessment of the reason why the Party may be unable to meet those obligations. Where possible, substantiating information, or advice as to where such substantiating information may be found, may be provided. The submission may include suggestions for solutions which the Party considers may be most appropriate to its particular needs;
2. A Party that is directly affected or likely to be directly affected by another Party’s alleged failure to comply with the obligations of the Convention. A Party intending to make a submission under the present subparagraph should, before so doing, undertake consultations with the Party whose compliance is in question. The submission should include details as to which specific obligations are concerned, and information substantiating the submission, including how the Party is affected or likely to be affected.

13. The Committee, in order to assess possible difficulties faced by Parties in fulfilling their obligations under Articles 4 (1), 5 (1), 5 (2) and 10 of the Convention, upon receipt of information from the Secretariat provided by such Parties pursuant to those provisions, shall notify the Party in writing regarding the matter of concern. If the matter has not been resolved within 90 days by consultation through the Secretariat with the Party concerned and the Committee considers the matter further, it shall do so in accordance with paragraphs 16 to 24 below.

14. The Secretariat shall forward submissions made under subparagraph 12 (a) above, within two weeks of receiving such submissions, to the members of the Committee for consideration at the Committee’s next meeting.

15. The Secretariat shall, within two weeks of its receiving any submission made under subparagraph 12 (b) or in furtherance to paragraph 13 above, send a copy to the Party whose compliance with the Convention is in question and to the members of the Committee for consideration at the Committee’s next meeting.

16. A Party whose compliance is in question may present responses or comments at every step of the proceedings described in the present annex.

17.  Without prejudice to paragraph 16 above, additional information, provided by a Party whose compliance is in question in response to a submission, should be forwarded to the Secretariat within three months of the date of receipt of the submission by that Party, unless the circumstances of a particular case require an extended period of time. Such information shall be immediately transmitted to the members of the Committee for consideration at the Committee’s next meeting. Where a submission has been made pursuant to subparagraph 12 (b) above, the information shall be forwarded by the Secretariat also to the Party that made the submission.

18. The Committee may decide not to proceed with submissions which it considers to be:

1. De minimis;
2. Manifestly ill-founded.

Facilitation

19. The Committee shall consider any submission made to it in accordance with paragraph 12 or in furtherance of paragraph 13 above, with a view to establishing the facts and the root causes of the matter of concern and to assisting in its resolution, taking into account Article 16 of the Convention. To that end, the Committee may provide a Party with:

1. Advice;
2. Non-binding recommendations;
3. Any further information required to assist the Party in developing a compliance plan, including timelines and targets.

Possible measures to address compliance issues

20. If, after undertaking the facilitation procedure set forth in paragraph 19 above and taking into account the cause, type, degree and frequency of compliance difficulties, including financial and technical capacities of the Parties whose compliance is in question, the Committee considers it necessary to propose further measures to address a Party’s compliance problems, the Committee may recommend to the Conference of the Parties, bearing in mind its ability under Article 18 (5) (c) of the Convention, that it consider the following measures, to be taken in accordance with international law, to attain compliance:

1. Further support under the Convention for the Party concerned, including facilitation, as appropriate, of access to financial resources, technical assistance and capacity-building;
2. Providing advice regarding future compliance in order to help Parties to implement the provisions of the Convention and to promote cooperation among all Parties;
3. Requesting the Party concerned to provide an update on its efforts;
4. Issuing a statement of concern regarding possible future non-compliance;
5. Issuing a statement of concern regarding current non-compliance;
6. Requesting the Executive Secretary to make public cases of non-compliance;
7. Recommending that a non-compliance situation be addressed by the non‑compliant Party with the aim of resolving the situation.

Handling of information

21. (1)  The Committee may receive relevant information, through the Secretariat, from:

1. The Parties;
2. Relevant sources, as it considers necessary and appropriate, with the prior consent of the Party concerned or as directed by the Conference of the Parties;
3. The Convention clearing-house mechanism and relevant intergovernmental organizations. The Committee shall provide the Party concerned with such information and invite it to present comments thereon.

(2) The Committee may also request information from the Secretariat, where appropriate, in the form of a report, on matters under the Committee’s consideration.

22. For the purpose of examining systemic issues of general compliance under paragraph 25 below, the Committee may:

1. Request information from all Parties;
2. In accordance with relevant guidance by the Conference of the Parties, request relevant information from any reliable sources and outside experts;
3. Consult with the Secretariat and draw upon its experience and knowledge base.

23. Subject to Article 14 of the Convention, the Committee, any Party or any person involved in the deliberations of the Committee shall protect the confidentiality of information received in confidence.

Monitoring

24.The Committee should monitor the consequences of action taken in pursuance of paragraph 19 or 20 above.

General compliance issues

25. The Committee may examine systemic issues of general compliance of interest to all Parties where:

1. The Conference of the Parties so requests;
2. The Committee, on the basis of information obtained by the Secretariat, while acting pursuant to its functions under the Convention, from Parties and submitted to the Committee by the Secretariat, decides that there is a need for an issue of general non-compliance to be examined and for a report on it to be made to the Conference of the Parties.

Reports to the Conference of the Parties

26. The Committee shall submit a report to each ordinary meeting of the Conference of the Parties reflecting:

1. The work that the Committee has undertaken;
2. The conclusions or recommendations of the Committee;
3. The future programme of work of the Committee, including the schedule of expected meetings which it considers necessary for the fulfilment of its programme of work, for the consideration and approval of the Conference of the Parties.

Other subsidiary bodies

27.  Where the activities of the Committee in respect of particular issues overlap with the responsibilities of another Rotterdam Convention body, the Conference of the Parties may direct the Committee to consult with that body.

Information-sharing with compliance committees under relevant multilateral environmental agreements

28. Where relevant, the Committee may solicit specific information, upon request by the Conference of the Parties or at its own initiative, from compliance committees dealing with hazardous substances and wastes under the auspices of relevant multilateral environmental agreements and report on these activities to the Conference of the Parties.

Review of the compliance mechanism

29. The Conference of the Parties shall regularly review the implementation of the procedures and mechanisms set forth in the present annex.

Relationship with settlement of disputes

30. These procedures and mechanisms shall be without prejudice to Article 20 of the Convention.