Parties to the Aarhus Convention have deposited with the United Nations Secretary-General five new ratifications of the amendment on public participation in decision-making on the deliberate release into the environment and placing on the market of genetically modified organisms .
At the ninth meeting of the Working Group of the Parties to the Convention, 13-15 February 2008, Sweden announced that it was in the process of depositing its instrument of ratification of the amendment to the Aarhus Convention, joining the earlier acceptance of the amendment by Moldova (7 December 2007) and ratifications by the Czech Republic, on 29 January, and Estonia and the European Community, on 1 February.
Sweden's deposit, which was received on 15 February 2008, raises the number of ratifications of the GMO amendment to nine. Three-quarters of the Parties to the Convention must ratify the amendment to bring about its entry into force.
The Netherlands became the sixth Signatory to ratify the Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTR) with the deposit of its instrument of acceptance on 11 February 2008. So far, five countries and the European Community have ratified the Protocol. Sixteen member state ratifications are needed to bring the Protocol into force.
