National reporting

Within its mandate to improve the implementation of and compliance with paragraph 3 of Article 13 on national reporting, the Committee was requested to undertake a number of activities.

By its decision BC-15/17, the Conference of the Parties mandated the Committee to:

1. Classify and, as appropriate, publish information on Parties’ compliance with their annual national reporting obligations for 2018 and 2019 based on the assumptions, criteria and categories adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its thirteenth meeting (Decision BC-13/9, para. 12) and the targets adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its fifteenth meeting (Decision BC-15/17);
2. Develop recommendations on the revision of the targets referred to in paragraph 10 of decision BC-15/17 for the reports due for 2020 and subsequent years;
3. In cooperation, as appropriate, with the Compliance Committee of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, monitor United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework processes with a view to assessing the extent to which Parties with national reporting needs are including actions to address them in their Cooperation Framework, identifying best practices and, on the basis of the assessment, developing recommendations for the consideration of Conference of the Parties;
4. Establish a dialogue with the Basel Convention regional and coordinating centres (BCRCs), the Executive Board of the Special Programme to support institutional strengthening at the national level for implementation of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, the Minamata Convention and the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and other entities such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the World Bank and regional development banks on their activities aimed at supporting Parties in the implementation of their obligation to transmit national reports, and develop recommendations for consideration by the Conference of the Parties;
5. Consider elaborating and further assessing measures not included under paragraphs 20 (a) and (b) of the terms of reference of the Committee that may be required when a Party has not submitted its national report for two or more years since the report due in 2016, and to report to the Conference of the Parties at its sixteenth meeting

The activities were considered by the Committee during its fifteenth meeting at what time the Committee:

1. Considered draft classifications of Parties’ compliance with their annual national reporting obligations for 2018 and 2019, and requested the Secretariat to prepare revised classifications taking into account comments received from Parties thereon;
2. Finalized a questionnaire to collect information from Parties in English, French and Spanish with a view to assessing the extent to which Parties with national reporting needs are including actions to address them in their Cooperation Framework, and a questionnaire for Resident Coordinators and UN country teams to collect information with a view to assessing the extent to which Parties with national reporting needs are including actions to address them in their Cooperation Framework
3. Finalized a questionnaire to collect information from BCRCs and other relevant organizations on their activities to assist Parties to transmit national reports for the purpose of improving implementation and compliance with paragraph 3 of Article 13 of the Convention on national reporting.