Geneva, Switzerland, from 28 November to 1 December 2023 and from 3 to 6 September 2024
Venue: Room Rhin, Aare and Rhone, International Environment House II, 7-9 chemin de Balexert, CH-1219 Châtelaine
Format: The first part of the sixth meeting of the expert working group was convened face-to-face. Registered members or observers not in a position to participate in person in the meeting received, upon request to the Secretariat, an online viewer access allowing them to follow the meeting without the right to intervene. Viewers are not included in the list of participants to the meeting. The second part of the sixth meeting of the expert working group will convened in the same format.
Highlights: During the first part of its sixth meeting, the expert working group resumed its work on the review of Annexes I, III and IV to the Basel Convention. In line with decision BC-16/15, the expert working group prepared revised amendment proposals on Annex IV A, initiated consideration of revised amendment proposals on Annex IV B, and continued to develop draft recommendations on the review of Annexes I and III for consideration by the Open-ended Working Group at its fourteenth meeting (25-28 June 2024). The group agreed to invite comments from Parties and observers on the outcome of its work by 11 March 2024. The group also agreed to meet for the second part of its sixth meeting in September or October 2024.
During the second part of its sixth meeting, the expert working group resumed its work in line with the guidance provided by the Open-ended Working Group at its fourteenth meeting. Accordingly, the expert working group continued its work on the review of Annex IV and developed revised amendment proposals thereon, on the basis of the outcomes of the discussions at the fourteenth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (see the annex to document UNEP/CHW/OEWG.14/INF/27/Rev.1, transposed in the annex to document UNEP/CHW/RA_EWG.6/2/Rev.1) including the prioritization of the amendment proposals, for consideration and possible adoption by the Conference of the Parties at its seventeenth meeting. The EWG also finalized an explanatory note to complement its revised amendment proposals which includes recommendations for the consideration of the Conference of the Parties on the consequential implications of the amendment proposals, and agreed to draw the attention of Parties and observers to the explanations set out in the report of its meeting regarding the amendments proposals. The revised amendment proposals and explanatory note will be made available to Parties in the six languages of the United Nations by 28 October 2024 with an invitation to comment by 14 February 2025. The Secretariat was also requested to undertake awareness raising activities on the revised amendment proposals in advance of the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties.
During the second part of its sixth meeting, the expert working group did not have the time to further work on its draft recommendations on the review of Annexes I and III, taking into account the discussions at the fourteenth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group. Its draft recommendations as at 1 December 2023 will therefore be transmitted to the Conference of the Parties at its seventeenth meeting.
The Secretariat gratefully acknowledges the Governments of Norway, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and the European Union for their generous financial support to the work of the expert working group.
Working language: English