The Committee is to identify parties' needs for assistance, assess the adequacy of existing tools and training activities to meet those needs and develop a legal capacity building strategy under the Convention to improve the implementation of and compliance with paragraph 4 of Article 4 and paragraph 5 of Article 9 of the Convention.
Activities aimed at improving implementation of and compliance with paragraph 4 of Article 4 and paragraph 5 of Article 9 of the Convention were considered by the Committee during its ninth meeting. The Committee developed several recommendations to the attention of the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties which were adopted through decision BC-11/8. In particular :
- parties that may be facing difficulties in implementing and complying with paragraph 4 of article 4 and paragraph 5 of article 9 of the Convention to make use of the Committee’s legal framework programme through a submission under paragraph 9 (a) of the terms of reference, which may lead to consideration of possible funding from the implementation fund;
- the Secretariat was requested to continue to provide advice upon request and to collect and disseminate legal information, for instance national legislation; and to publicize the Committee’s legal framework programme on the website. The Secretariat was also requested to give priority, in the legal component of the Secretariat’s technical assistance programme, to assisting parties in enacting and reviewing implementing legislation;
- the Basel Convention regional and coordinating centres were invited to include assistance to parties in the development or review of national legislation implementing the Basel Convention as part of their business plans, using guidance developed by the Convention bodies, while taking into account regional specificities;