I. Opening of the meeting

1. The third meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade was held at the Geneva International Conference Centre in Geneva, Switzerland, from 9 to 13 October 2006.

1. Opening of the meeting.

2. Organizational matters:

1. The third meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, to be held from 9 to 13 October 2006 at the Geneva International Conference Centre, Geneva, will be opened at 10 a.m. on Monday, 9 October 2006.

Note by the secretariat

The secretariat has the honour to transmit to the Conference of the Parties, in an annex to the present note, the scenario note for the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties, prepared by the President of the Conference, Mr. Ruisheng Yue (China).

Note by the secretariat

1. At its first meeting, held in Geneva from 20 to 24 September 2004, in its decision RC-1/1 the Conference of the Parties adopted its rules of procedure as set forth in the annex to that decision, with the exception of the second sentence of paragraph 1 of rule 45.

Note by the secretariat

1. In order to inform the Conference of the Parties regarding progress in the implementation of the Rotterdam Convention, the Secretariat has prepared a detailed report, contained in the annex to the present note, for consideration by the Conference at its third meeting. The report provides information on the status of implementation of the Convention as of 30 April 2006, based on the requirements set out in the Convention.

Note by the secretariat

I. Background

1. At its second meeting, the Conference of the Parties adopted decision RC-2/1 which confirmed the 30 government-designated experts to the Chemical Review Committee and elected Ms. Bettina Hitzfeld as the Chair of the Committee.

Note by the secretariat

1. In its decision RC-1/6, the Conference of the Parties established a subsidiary body, the Chemical Review Committee, with membership from each of the five United Nations regions. In the decision, some Parties were invited to nominate experts to serve for four years, while a number of Parties were invited to nominate experts to serve for two years. The terms of the latter experts expire in September 2007.

Note by the secretariat

The second meeting of the Chemical Review Committee was held in Geneva from 13 to 17 February 2006. The secretariat has the honour to submit to the Conference of the Parties, in the annex to the present note, the report of that meeting.

Note by the secretariat

The annex to the present note is a paper prepared by the secretariat providing background information and a summary of the deliberations of the Chemical Review Committee at its second meeting on selected issues that it wanted to bring to the attention of the Conference of the Parties at its third meeting. The full report of the second meeting of the Chemical Review Committee is set out in document UNEP/FAO/RC/COP.3/7.

Note by the secretariat

I. Background

1. At its second meeting, the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade considered the issue of trade restrictions under other multilateral agreements and requested the secretariat to prepare a paper for consideration by the Chemical Review Committee at its second meeting on how a substance whose trade was prohibited, severely restricted or managed in some way under other multilateral agreements should be treated under the Rotterdam Convention. The Chemical Review Committee discussed that paper, recommended a number of minor amendments and agreed to forward it for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its third meeting. The paper, as amended, is annexed to the present note.

Note by the secretariat

I. Background

1. At its second meeting, the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade considered the issue of procedures for risk evaluations under other multilateral agreements and requested the secretariat to prepare a paper, for consideration by the Chemical Review Committee at its second meeting, on how a substance whose trade was prohibited, severely restricted or managed in some way under other multilateral agreements should be treated under the Rotterdam Convention. The Chemical Review Committee discussed the paper, recommended a number of minor amendments and agreed to forward it for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its third meeting. The paper, as amended, is annexed to the present note.

Note by the secretariat

Introduction

1. Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 7 of the Rotterdam Convention reads as follows:

“1. For each chemical that the Chemical Review Committee has decided to recommend for listing in Annex III, it shall prepare a draft decision guidance document. The decision guidance document should, at a minimum, be based on the information specified in Annex I, or, as the case may be, Annex IV, and include information on uses of the chemical in a category other than the category for which the final regulatory action applies.

Note by the Secretariat

1. Article 17 of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade reads as follows:

Note by the Secretariat

1. At its second meeting, the Conference of the Parties considered a study (UNEP/FAO/RC/COP.2/10), prepared in response to the request in decision RC-1/5, on the possible options for lasting and sustainable financial mechanisms which will enable developing countries to implement adequately the provisions of the Convention.

Note by the secretariat

1. In its decision RC 2/4, on regional and national delivery of technical assistance, the Conference of the Parties requested the secretariat to report to the Conference at its third meeting on the experience gained in the regional delivery of technical assistance.

Note by the secretariat

1. In its decision RC-2/4 on regional and national delivery of technical assistance, the Conference of the Parties requested the secretariat to prepare a detailed costed programme of activities for the regional and national delivery of technical assistance for the biennium 2007–2008 for consideration by the Conference at its third meeting.

Note by the secretariat

1. Annexed to the present note is a brief report on cooperation between the secretariat and the World Customs Organization (WCO) since the second meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention in September 2005.

Note by the Secretariat

1. The annex to the present note contains a note by the secretariat reporting the progress made in the actions requested of the secretariat in decision RC-1/15, on cooperation with the World Trade Organization (WTO), taken by the Conference of the Parties at its first meeting.

Note by the Secretariat

1. At its first meeting, the Conference of the Parties, in decision RC-1/4, the Conference of the Parties established financial rules for the Conference of the Parties, its subsidiary bodies and the Convention Secretariat.

Note by the Secretariat

1. At its first meeting, the Conference of the Parties of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants adopted decision SC-1/18, in which, among other things, it welcomed the proposal made at the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, for a joint head of the Secretariats of both the Stockholm and the Rotterdam conventions, and decided that further possibilities for additional synergies should be explored. In paragraph 3 of decision SC-1/18, the Conference of the Parties requested:

Note by the Secretariat

1. At its second meeting, the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention adopted decision RC-2/6 and, inter alia, welcomed the study on improving cooperation and synergies undertaken in response to decision SC-1/18 taken by the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention at its first meeting (document UNEP/FAO/RC/COP.3/19).

Note by the Secretariat

1. At its second meeting, the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention requested the Secretariat to prepare a paper reviewing the mechanisms under the Convention for information exchange, such as those under articles 7 and 14 and the clearing-house mechanism, and assessing how well they were meeting the needs of the Parties to the Convention.

Note by the secretariat

1. Annexed to the present note is a report prepared by the secretariat on its activities during the period from 1 May 2005 to 30 April 2006, which were undertaken in accordance with its mandate under the Convention and as directed by the Conference of the Parties.

Note by the secretariat

1. In its decision RC 2/7, on the financing and budget arrangements for the biennium 2005–2006, the Conference of the Parties at its second session reconfirmed its decision RC 1/17 and decided on a number of actions to facilitate the financial operation of the Convention

Corrigendum

Note by the secretariat

1. At its first meeting the Conference of the Parties, in decision RC-1/17, requested, among other things, the heads of the Convention secretariat to prepare a budget for the biennium 2007–2008.

Corrigendum

Note by the Secretariat

1. In order to facilitate the work of the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention regarding cooperation and synergies between the secretariats of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, the Secretariat has prepared a document that summarizes the chronology of events, provides a compilation of the associated decisions and lists the documents available to the meeting on that topic. The summary is annexed to the present note.

Corrigendum