Transit transboundary movements

The work of the Committee to improve the implementation of and compliance with Article 6 of the Convention on transboundary movement between Parties includes work on paragraph 4 of Article 6 of the Convention on transit transboundary movements.

By its decision BC-14/15, the Conference of the Parties mandated the Committee to

• Review the information provided by Parties in response to questions 3 (g) and 3 (h) of the reporting format;
• Finalize guidance on the implementation of paragraph 4 of Article 6 of the Convention set out in document UNEP/CHW.14/INF/26 by inviting and taking into account any additional comments from Parties and observers, including the World Customs Organization, through consultation with the Open ended Working Group and through targeted exchanges with the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, for consideration and possible adoption by the Conference of the Parties at its fifteenth meeting.

In a 19 August 2019 Communication, the Secretariat invited Parties and observers to provide comments on the guidance on the implementation of paragraph 4 of Article 6 of the Convention set out in document UNEP/CHW.14/INF/26.

The work on the Committee on the development of guidance on transit transboundary movements is a continuation of work initiated under its 2016-2017 and 2018-2019 work programmes.

During its online segment (1-3 September 2020), following its consideration of the item on consultations with the Implementation and Compliance Committee, the OEWG-12 agreed to invite Parties and observers to submit comments on the revised guidance on the implementation of paragraph 11 of Article 6 of the Convention on insurance, bond and guarantee set out in the annex to document UNEP/CHW/OEWG.12/INF/24 to the Secretariat by 15 September 2020, and to invite the Implementation and Compliance Committee to take the comments received into account in revising the documents for submission to the Conference of the Parties at its fifteenth meeting. The Group also agreed to allow a small number of Parties that had highlighted difficulties in meeting the above-mentioned deadline to submit their written comments by 21 September 2020, on the understanding that the Implementation and Compliance Committee was to meet from 21 to 25 September 2020 to finalize the guidance.

The comments received in writing during the online segment and subsequently to the segment by 15 September 2020 are set out in the table below. For information on the fourteenth meeting of the Committee, please see here.

Subsequently to the online segment of the twelfth meeting of the Open-ended working Group, the Committee considered, during the online 21-25 September 2020 and 7 December 2020 sessions of its fourteenth meeting, revised draft guidance taking into account comments received developed thanks to a financial contribution by Germany.

Following consideration of the matter, the Committee agreed to defer the finalization of the guidance and to proposed to fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties that this be included in its work programme for 2022-2023. Among the rationale put forward were the importance of taking into account a broader range of views by Parties from developing countries and economies in transition, the importance for the guidance to reflect and build on a more comprehensive set of definitions and practices by Parties in relation to “State of transit”, and the objective of providing clearer guidance on the implementation of paragraph 4 of Article 6 of the Convention including by possibly providing one or more options on the way forward in instances of differing definitions and practices between Parties involved in a transboundary movement.

On 17 May 2021, the Committee made available to the Parties in English, French and Spanish a questionnaire seeking information on:

• Parties’ definitions and practices in relation to the meaning of “transit” transboundary movements, taking into account the definition of “State of transit” set out in paragraph 12 of Article 2 of the Convention;
• How Parties deal with instances where their definition of “transit” differs from that of other Parties concerned by a proposed transboundary movement and how such differences are or may be resolved in practice;
• How Parties interpret paragraph 12 of Article 4 of the Convention which is about the interface between the Basel Convention, including its prior informed consent procedure, and other international instruments setting rights and obligations governing navigation in the territorial sea and the exclusive economic zone.

Parties were invited to complete the questionnaire by 15 July 2021.