At its seventeenth meeting, the Conference of the Parties adopted an amendment to Annex IV by decision BC-17/15, which will become effective on 1 January 2030. In addition, the Conference of the Parties, in its decision BC-17/16, agreed on some work to be undertaken in follow up to the adoption of the amendment, namely:
- A request to the Secretariat, subject to the availability of resources, to prepare draft revisions to the notification and movement documents and the instructions for completing them as well as draft revisions to the national reporting format and the manual for completing it consequential to the adoption of the amendments to Annex IV, set out in decision BC 17/15, for consideration by the Open-ended Working Group at its fifteenth meeting and for consideration and possible adoption by the Conference of the Parties at its eighteenth meeting;
- A request to the Secretariat to identify, for consideration by the Open-ended Working Group at its fifteenth meeting and the Conference of the Parties at its eighteenth meeting, consequential implications of the amendment to Annex IV for other documents such as technical guidelines and, if appropriate, the glossary of terms;
- An invitation to Parties to submit to the Secretariat by 30 September 2025 comments on any need to develop explanations, technical guidelines or guidance in relation to the disposal operations in Annex IV for consideration by the Open-ended Working Group at its fifteenth meeting and the Conference of the Parties at its eighteenth meeting;
- An invitation to Parties and observers to submit to the Secretariat, by 1 January 2028, their views on whether or not there is the need for, as well as potential suggestions for, including in Annex IV new operations addressed in the revised amendment proposals on Annex IV developed by the expert working group on the review of annexes and discussed but not agreed on at the present meeting of the Conference of the Parties, for consideration by the Open-ended Working Group at its sixteenth meeting and the Conference of the Parties at its nineteenth meeting, with particular consideration given to operations R14, R15, D16 and D17 as referred to in that document, as well as alternative wording for those operations.