Fact Sheet: Designated Country Contacts under the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions

 

Date of establishment At date of transmission of designation to the Secretariat by the Party to the Convention concerned
Legal basis
  • Basel Convention: Articles 2 and 5 (Focal Points – FP, and Competent Authorities - CA)
  • Rotterdam Convention: Article 4 (Designated National Authorities - DNA)
  • Stockholm Convention: Article 9 (National Focal Point - NFP) and decision SC-2/16 (Official Contact Points – OCP)
Objective To ensure exchange of information between the Secretariat and Parties
To ensure effective implementation and, as appropriate, enforcement of the Conventions at the national level
Nature Formal channel of communication established between CAs
Formal channel of communication between the Secretariat on one hand and the FPs, OCPs DNAs and NFPs on the other hand
Membership Country contacts designated by Parties to the Conventions in accordance with the Conventions and procedures established by decisions of the respective  Conferences of the Parties
Observers Parties’ Permanent Missions to the United Nations
Geographical scope Global - Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions
Substantive scope Basel Convention: hazardous wastes and other wastes
Rotterdam Convention: toxic chemicals
Stockholm Convention: persistent organic pollutants
Governance structure Regulation and organization at the national level, in accordance with the responsibilities of country contacts accorded by the Conventions
Cooperation Country contacts cooperate with each other, the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions and other stakeholders (eg. UNEP, FAO, BCRCs and SCRs) at the national and international levels
Activities Basel Convention:
  • Focal Points receive and submit information to the Secretariat as provided for in Articles 13 and 16 e.g. identification of cases of illegal traffic; national reports; notifications of national definitions and import/export restrictions
  • Competent Authorities communicate with one another: they are responsible for receiving notifications of transboundary movements and any related information and for responding to such a notification. They usually have a role at the national level for preventing and combating illegal traffic. Competent Authorities sometimes also communicate with the Secretariat.
Rotterdam Convention:
  • Designated National Authority communicates with the Secretariat: it  is authorized to act to its behalf in the performance of the administrative functions required by the Convention. The DNA’s responsibilities include: notifying the Secretariat of national final regulatory actions; submitting proposals for severely hazardous pesticide formulations; providing import responses to chemicals subject to the PIC procedure; communicating import responses to stakeholders in the country; sending and acknowledging export notifications; information exchange
  • Official Contact Points communicate with the Secretariat; they receive communications on official issues such as proposals for the addition of chemicals to Annex III of the Convention and inclusion in the PIC procedure and nomination of experts to subsidiary bodies e.g. CRC
Stockholm Convention:
  • Official Contact Points  communicate with the Secretariat: they perform administrative functions and receive all formal communications under the Convention
  • National Focal Points communicate with the Secretariat: they are designated for exchange of information specified in Article 9 relevant to reduction or elimination of the production, use and release of POPs; and alternatives to POPs, including information relating to their risks as well as to their economic and social costs.
Source of funding Each Party is responsible for its own costs incurred in designating and maintaining these country contacts. For meetings of the Conventions bodies, voluntary funding may be received from donors to enable participation by Parties from developing countries.
Contact information See below for relevant pages of the Conventions websites
Website Basel Convention
https://www.basel.int/Countries/CountryContacts/tabid/1342/Default.aspx
Rotterdam Convention
https://www.pic.int/Countries/OfficialContactPoints/Database/tabid/1378/language/en-US/Default.aspx
Stockholm Convention
https://chm.pops.int/Countries/Contact%20Points/tabid/304/Default.aspx