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WGRI 2 Recommendations

WGRI 2 Recommendation 2/5

2/5Operations of the Convention

The Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Review of Implementation of the Convention, recommends that the Conference of the Parties adopt two decisions along the following lines:
A.Review and retirement of the decisions of the Conference of the Parties
The Conference of the Parties,
Recalling paragraph 35 and 36 of its decision VIII/10 and paragraph 3 of its decision VII/33,
1.Decides to review and, if appropriate, retire decisions and elements of decisions, taking care to avoid retiring guiding principles and decisions that have not been implemented or reflected in subsequent decisions, at an interval of eight years following their adoption;
2.Decides to re-examine the interval for review at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties;
3.Decides also that, with regard to criteria for the review and retirement of decisions and elements of decisions, the Executive Secretary shall proceed with the previous format adopted on the basis of the pilot review and subsequent reviews;
4.Further decides to retire the decisions and elements of decisions adopted at its fifth meeting listed in the annex to the present decision; 2
5.Requests the Executive Secretary to make proposals to the Conference of the Parties at its tenth meeting regarding the retirement of decisions and elements of decisions taken at its sixth meeting and to communicate such proposals to Parties, Governments and relevant international organizations at least six months prior to its tenth meeting;
6.Requests the Executive Secretary to continue the practice of maintaining the full text of all decisions on the Secretariat website while indicating those decisions and elements of decisions that have been retired.
B.Admission of bodies and agencies, whether governmental or non-governmental
The Conference of the Parties,
Recalling Article 23 of the Convention and rule 7 of the rules of procedure,
Recalling also decision VIII/10, paragraph 39,
Recognizing the desirability of clarifying the formalities for admission as an observer to meetings of the Conference of the Parties and its subsidiary bodies,
Decides to adopt the steps annexed to the present decision for the admission of any body or agency, whether governmental or non-governmental, to meetings of the Convention on Biological Diversity, recognizing that it is without prejudice to Article 23, paragraph 5, of the Convention, and rule 7 of the rules of procedure.

Annex

STEPS FOR ADMITTING QUALIFIED BODIES AND AGENCIES, WHETHER GOVERNMENTAL OR NON-GOVERNMENTAL, AS OBSERVERS TO MEETINGS OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES AND ITS SUBSIDIARY BODIES

1.The present steps are without prejudice to Article 23, paragraph 5, of the Convention and rule 7 of the rules of procedure.
2.Any interested body or agency should inform the Executive Secretary of its wish to be represented as an observer to meetings of the Conference of the Parties and its subsidiary bodies, and include its statutes/by-laws/rules or terms of reference, as well as any other relevant information.
3.The Executive Secretary will prepare a list of bodies and agencies which have informed him of their wish to be represented, and have provided the information referred to in paragraph 2 above. The Executive Secretary will submit that list to each meeting of the Conference of the Parties for its information. The list will also be provided, in advance of the meeting, to the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties for information.
4.Once listed, a body or agency need not re-submit the information provided under paragraph 2 above. Bodies and agencies should notify the Secretariat of any relevant change in the information provided under paragraph 2 that may affect their admission as an observer.
2/42/1
2This annex would be prepared by the Conference of the Parties on the basis of proposals made by the Executive Secretary (see paras. 11-12 of the note by the Executive on the operations of the Convention (UNEP/CBD/WG RI/2/7)).