To further preparations for the entry into force of the Protocol on PRTRs to the Aarhus Convention, the Working Group on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers will hold its third meeting on 17-19 May 2006, in Geneva. The Working Group is expected to review draft decisions on rules of procedure and a compliance review mechanism, as well as review options for establishment of subsidiary bodies and financial arrangements for the agreement.
The Working Group of the Parties to the Convention, at its sixth meeting (5-7 April 2006, Geneva), adopted a statement concerning drafting of the compliance mechanism and rules of procedure for the Protocol. It encourages the Protocol’s Working Group “to take into account specific elements of the compliance mechanism adopted under the Aarhus Convention” and “to reflect in the rules of procedure of the Protocol the principles of transparency and openness which characterize the Aarhus Convention.”
At the Working Group of the Parties meeting, several delegations reported that efforts toward securing national ratification of the Protocol were well underway in their countries. Ratifications of the Protocol appear to be on track for the Protocol to come into force in late 2007, according to the Aarhus Convention secretariat. Entry into force could then be announced at the sixth meeting of the Environment-for-Europe Ministerial Conference, scheduled to be held in Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro, on 10-12 October 2007.
The Protocol on PRTRs was adopted at an extra-ordinary meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention on 21 May 2003 on the eve of the fifth Environment-for-Europe Ministerial Conference in Kiev, Ukraine.
Official documents prepared for the third meeting of the Working Group on PRTR are now available in English. Official French and Russian translations of these documents will be posted as soon as these become available. The documents can be downloaded at: http://www.unece.org/env/pp/prtr.docs.htm.
