Format and dates of the meeting
Owing to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, as an exceptional measure, the sixteenth meeting of the Chemical Review Committee (CRC-16) will be held by electronic means from 8 to 11 September 2020. The entire meeting, including plenary sessions and group meetings will be conducted online. In order to allow all members and observers to fully and effectively participate in the meeting, input by email may be invited within time limits to be specified by the Chair if it becomes clear that participants are experiencing connectivity problems during the online meeting.
Schedule of the meeting
CRC-16 will be opened on Tuesday, 8 September 2020, at 1 p.m. (UTC+2) during the online session. Plenary sessions will take place online every day from 8 to 11 September 2020 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (UC+2). If possible, contact/drafting groups will be held within the same timeslot of 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (UTC+2).
The tentative schedule of CRC-16 (UNEP/FAO/RC/CRC.16/INF/2), as agreed by the Bureau, is available.
A pre-meeting of the intersessional task group on perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds will take place online on Monday, 7 September 2020, from 1 p.m. to 2.30 p.m. (UTC+2). Further information on the pre-meeting is available on the task group webpage.
Meeting documents
The provisional agenda, other pre session documents, including the scenario note and the tentative schedule of work, are made available on the documents webpage.
Language of the meeting
As per decision RC-1/6 on the establishment of the Chemical Review Committee and in line with usual arrangements, the meeting will take place in English only.
Technical details of the meeting
The location of the password-protected intranet site accessible by all participants during the meeting, as well as the username and password to access the intranet site will be provided to registered participants by email prior to the meeting.
Participants are encouraged to use a unique email address for the meeting to which they have exclusive access to ensure that they can be identified and to communicate it to the Secretariat, if not already done. The Secretariat will contact all participants that have not indicated a unique email address in their registration to the meeting to seek clarification.
Please note that the intranet page will be activated a few days before the meeting. Until then, all relevant information pertaining to the meeting will be posted on the meeting website at: www.pic.int/crc16. As per past practice, this intranet site will contain pre-session documents, in-session documents (Conference Room Papers), the draft meeting report, submissions from members and observers, information on the daily schedule, etc.
The online sessions will be conducted via WebEx. All registered participants will receive an email with the link to connect to the online sessions. Instructions and guidance on how to participate in the WebEx sessions is available in the User’s Guide.
Registered participants have received an e-mail invitation for test sessions before the meeting to ensure that they are technically ready to connect to the WebEx system. We strongly urge you to participate in at least one of the test sessions in order to ensure that your audio devices are working properly and that you can participate effectively in the meeting.
Please note that the Chair will speedily proceed to the opening of the meeting on Tuesday, 8 September 2020, at 1 p.m. (UTC+2). You are invited to connect to the online sessions 30 minutes before the start to once more confirm that your audio settings are working well.
Participants are invited to take note of the following important email addresses and telephone numbers:
- If you have questions on technical issues to connect to the intranet site and/or online sessions, encounter any technical issues and/or require technical support: email: webmaster@brsmeas.org and telephone: +41 22 917 8229 or +41 79 203 7614.
- If you encounter connectivity problems during the online session, which prevent you from providing your input to the discussion on a specific matter and would like to ask the Chair to allow for email input on a specific topic: webmaster@brsmeas.org.
- If you wish to submit a Conference Room Paper (members only): crp@brsmeas.org.
Guidelines for rules of conduct for meeting participants
The attention of meeting participants is drawn to the following guidelines for rules of conduct developed:
- Guidelines on the use of cameras and audio/video recording devices by participants at meetings of the conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions (BRS) and their subsidiary bodies;
- Guidelines for the participation of representatives of observers at meetings of the conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions (BRS) and their subsidiary bodies;
- Guidelines on preventing and addressing all forms of harassment at meetings of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions.
Preparatory briefings
A number of online briefings are being organized prior to the meeting whose schedule will be available on the meeting website. These briefings will provide an overview of the issues that will be considered at the meeting and will also take place on the WebEx platform. The briefings are open to all meeting participants, as well as Parties to the Rotterdam Convention, observers and stakeholders in general.