RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE COMMISSION ON THE PROTECTION OF THE BLACK SEA AGAINST POLLUTION (adopted final version_29th_meeting)
Main Text
The titles of the Commission and the Convention in the title or in the text may change with respect to amendments of the Convention.
RULE 1 REPRESENTATION
1. Each Contracting Party to the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution (hereinafter referred to as “the Convention”) shall be represented in the Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution (hereinafter referred to as “the Commission” - Article 17 Item 1 of the Convention), by one representative (hereinafter referred to as “the Commissioner”) appointed by his/her Government. The Ministries of Environment or the equivalent authorities in the Contracting Parties shall officially inform the Permanent Secretariat of the Commission (hereinafter referred to as “Permanent Secretariat” on the Contracting Parties’ decisions for appointment or substitution of the Commission members (including the Chairman). The Commissioner may be accompanied by Alternate Representatives, Advisers and Experts.
2. Upon the decision of the Commission, the Government of any state non-Party
to the Convention, any international, inter-governmental and non-governmental
and other organizations, may be invited to the meetings of the Commission.
3. Upon the Commission’s discretion the countries non-Parties to the Convention and/or any international, intergovernmental and non-governmental organization whose activities have significant impact on the Black Sea marine and coastal environment or due to their substantial contribution to the protection of the Black Sea environment may be granted the observer status to the Commission.
4. General conditions for granting observer status are described in the Annex of these Rules of Procedure.
5. The Permanent Secretariat shall, within the appropriate line of the budget adopted by the Commission, invite representatives of the Advisory Groups and/or other subsidiary bodies established by the Commission to the meetings of the Commission, if so required by the Agenda.
7. The Permanent Secretariat may, within the quota of the budget adopted by the Commission, and after informing the Chairman, designate representatives to participate in the activities of other international organizations.
RULE 2 CHAIRMANSHIP
1. The Chairmanship of the Commission shall be assumed by each Contracting Party in turn, in alphabetical order of the names of the Contracting Parties in English.
The Chairman shall serve for a period of one year and during his/her term he/she cannot act in the capacity of Commissioner of his/her country. Should the Chairmanship fall vacant, the Contracting Party chairing the Commission shall appoint a successor to remain in office until the term of its Chairmanship expires.
2. In addition to exercising the powers and duties conferred upon him elsewhere in these Rules of Procedure, the powers and duties of the Chairman shall be:
a) to convene the regular and extraordinary meetings of the Commission;
b) to declare the opening and closing of each meeting of the Commission;
c) to preside at all the meetings of the Commission;
d) to ensure observance of these Rules of Procedure and to decide all questions of order raised at meetings of the Commission;
e) generally, to make such decisions and give such directions to the Executive Director of the Permanent Secretariat which will ensure, especially in the interval between the meetings of the Commission, that the business of the Commission is carried out efficiently and in accordance with its decisions;
f) to represent the Commission in relation to international organizations;
g) to invite any person or representative of any organization to the regular meeting of the Commission.
RULE 3 MEETINGS OF THE COMMISSION
1. The Commission shall hold a regular meeting for decision-making at least once a year. The Commission, at its regular meetings shall inter alia :
a)
Adopt a Work Programme and a Budget for the following financial period;
b) Adopt a Provisional Budget for the financial period following thereafter;
c)
Approve a three-year Budget Estimate;
d) Approve the Auditor’s Report for the previous financial period;
e) Determine the date of the next regular meeting;
f) Consider and decide as appropriate on the issues on the Agenda.
The Commission may decide to hold a closed session. Only members of the delegations of the Contracting Parties shall participate in the closed sessions.
2. An extraordinary meeting of the Commission shall be convened at any time by the Chairman at the request of any Contracting Party. The meeting shall be held as soon as possible at time and place as the Chairman determines, however, not later than 45 days from the date of the submission of the abovementioned request.
3. Invitations to the meetings of the Commission shall be issued on behalf of the Commission by the Permanent Secretariat to all Contracting Parties and to any Government, any inter-governmental organization, any non-governmental and other organizations invited by the Commission.
4. Invitations to the members of the Commission and the representatives of governments and organizations which are observers to the Commission shall be sent at least sixty days before the dates fixed for the opening of the regular meeting.
5. The rest of the invitations shall be sent as soon as the consultations with the Commission members in this regard are finalized.
6. Notwithstanding Rule 2 Item 3(g), the Chairman of the Commission or the Executive Director have the right to invite any person or representative of any organization to attend meetings of the Commission as specially invited guests provided that their participation will contribute substantially to the success of the Commission’s activities.
7. Invitations to extraordinary meetings shall be transmitted by the Permanent Secretariat after the submission of the request by a Contracting Party, not later than thirty days before the date fixed for the opening of the extraordinary meeting.
8. The names of the members of the delegations of the Contracting Parties shall be submitted to the Permanent Secretariat not later than ten days before the date fixed for the opening of any meeting of the Commission.
RULE 4 AGENDA
1. The Permanent Secretariat shall, in consultation with the Chairman, prepare the provisional agenda for the meetings of the Commission. Contracting Parties may request for items to be included into the provisional agenda. These requests shall be submitted as soon as possible with an explanatory note on the subject and supporting documents, if any.
2. The provisional agenda and to the extent possible the supporting documents, shall be transmitted by the Permanent Secretariat to the Contracting Parties at least 45 days before the date of the regular meeting and without delay after the submission of the request for the convocation of an extraordinary meeting.
3. The provisional agenda for a regular meeting shall include:
a) all items which have been decided by the Commission at its previous meeting;
b) all items proposed by any Contracting Party;
c) all items which the Chairman or the Executive Director deem necessary to put in front of the Commission;
d) all items which have been decided by the Commission after its previous meeting.
4. The provisional agenda for the extraordinary meeting shall consist of items proposed for consideration in the request for holding of the meeting.
5. At the beginning of the meeting, the Commission shall adopt the agenda for the meeting. Items may be canceled from and/or added to the agenda, if the Commission so decides.
RULE 5 SUBSIDIARY BODIES OF THE COMMISSION
1. The Commission shall establish subsidiary bodies such as Advisory Groups, Ad Hoc Groups, Steering Committees for projects, and others as are necessary. The Commission shall approve the relevant Terms of Reference for these subsidiary bodies.
2. The Chairpersons of the Advisory Groups will be elected by the members of the respective Advisory Group for a period of two years from the nationals of the Contracting Parties. The Chairperson of the Advisory Group shall report to the Commission and may present the relevant activities at international fora. The Chairpersons of other subsidiary bodies shall be elected from the members of the respective subsidiary body. A Chairperson of a subsidiary body may be appointed by the Commission.
3. The subsidiary bodies of the Commission may, after consultations with the Chairman of the Commission, invite outside specialists to participate in the work of the subsidiary body.
RULE 6 VOTING
1. Each Contracting Party shall have one vote in the Commission.
2. Decisions and recommendations of the Commission shall be adopted unanimously. If, for any reason, some Contracting Parties are not able to attend the meeting, the decision can be adopted with the unanimity of those present and with the subsequent written approval of the Contracting Party(ies) absent. In this case a quorum of 4 (four) Contracting Parties is required.
3. Between meetings, the Commission may adopt decisions and recommendations by written procedure.
RULE 7 PERMANENT SECRETARIAT
1. To perform its duties under the Convention in accordance with Article XVII, para 6, the Commission shall be supported by a Permanent Secretariat. The Permanent Secretariat shall be a juridical person.
2. The Permanent Secretariat shall be composed of nationals of the Contracting Parties to the Convention.
3. The Commission shall nominate and appoint an Executive Director, who is the chief administrative and executive official of the Permanent Secretariat. The Commission shall nominate and appoint other officials of the Permanent Secretariat.
4. The Executive Director shall appoint the technical staff as provided in the relevant rules adopted by the Commission.
5. In addition to exercising the powers and duties conferred onit elsewhere in these Rules of Procedure, the Permanent Secretariat, under the supervision of the Executive Director, who is accountable before the Commission, shall:
a) coordinate the implementation of the Work Programme of the Commission;
b) make necessary arrangements and provide relevant assistance for holding of the meetings of the Commission, its Advisory Groups and other subsidiary bodies as well as for holding of other relevant events;
c) prepare the appropriate documentation in accordance with Rule 9 of these Rules of Procedure; and
d) perform other tasks entrusted to the Permanent Secretariat by the Commission.
RULE 8 LANGUAGE OF THE COMMISSION
The official language of the Commission shall be English.
RULE 9 RECORDS AND REPORTS
1. The Permanent Secretariat shall prepare an annual report to the Commission on the implementation of the Work Programme of the Commission. The report shall be sent at least forty five days before the date fixed for the regular meeting of the Commission.
2. The Advisory Groups shall produce annual reports presenting the activities in accordance with their Terms of Reference in implementation of the Strategic Action Plan for the Environmental Protection and Rehabilitation of the Black Sea (2009) and respective Work Programme(s) of the Commission. These reports shall be submitted by the Chairpersons of the Advisory Groups to the Permanent Secretariat not later than sixty days before the date fixed for the meeting of the Commission.
3. A report on the outcomes of the meeting of the subsidiary bodies shall be prepared at the end of the meeting by the Permanent Secretariat and submitted to the Commission. The minutes of the meeting shall be prepared as soon as possible, but not later than thirty days after the end of the meeting.
4. After a meeting of the Commission, the Permanent Secretariat shall prepare a meeting report comprising of all decisions and recommendations adopted during the meeting and minutes of the meeting. The Permanent Secretariat shall prepare the minutes of the meeting within thirty days for approval of each Contracting Party. The Permanent Secretariat shall submit the meeting report to the members of the Commission, observers and other participants. The report on the closed session of the meeting of the Commission shall be sent to the Contracting Parties only.
5. The Permanent Secretariat shall organize every five years the preparation of a report on the Implementation of the Strategic Action Plan for the Environmental Protection and Rehabilitation of the Black Sea (2009) and a Report on the State of Environment of the Black Sea. The modalities of this work shall be determined by the Commission.
RULE 10 AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES OF PROCEDURE
1. These Rules of Procedure may be amended by the Commission by unanimous decision.
Annex
to the Rules of Procedure of the Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution
General conditions and procedure for granting observer status
1. Introduction
The present Annex to the Rules of Procedure of the Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution aims at providing guidance for the Commission in case of granting observer status to any country, international, inter-governmental, non-governmental and other organizations, as the Commission deems appropriate.
2. Procedure for Application and Admission
Observer status may be granted by the Commission for meetings of the Commission or its subsidiary bodies or other activities in the framework of the Convention.
The initiative for granting the observer status could be taken by:
A. The candidate expressing interest in obtaining the status by way of submitting an official application;
The Commission, if
so decided.
3. Legal Grounds
The general legal grounds for granting observer status by the Commission is provided by Rule 1, Paragraph 3 of these Rules of Procedure.
4. Objectives of Granting the Observer Status
Granting the observer status should be aimed at supporting the implementation of the objectives of the Convention, its Protocols, the decisions of the Diplomatic Conferences or other meetings of the Contracting Parties, as well as the provisions of the Strategic Action Plan for the Environmental Protection and Rehabilitation of the Black Sea (2009). The observer status provides the conditions necessary for the proactive participation of partners in the events of the Commission.
5. Criteria for Granting Observer Status
The criteria for granting observer status to the Commission are as follows:
C. Acknowledgement of the principles and objectives of the Convention, its protocols as well as the decisions of the Commission;
D. Possession of specific scientific or technical competence related to the implementation of the provisions of the Convention;
E. Clearly defined institutional/administrative structure and operational managing bodies authorized to accredit representatives to the events of the Commission;
F. Availability of sufficient funds allowing them to cover the expenses related to their observer status.
The above criteria are aimed at ensuring the most effective cooperation. They do not mean any priority ranking or discrimination of the observers and the potential partners.
6. Participation
The Permanent Secretariat invites the Observers to take part in particular meetings and events and to exchange experience and information in oral or written form in each individual case.
The invitation should specify the number of invited representatives.
General conditions for Observers participating in particular meetings are as follows:
A. Active cooperation in support of the Commission activities and substantial contribution to the objective of the Commission’s event;
Fulfillment of the Chairman’s instructions about the conducting of the meeting;
C. Fulfillment of special arrangements with the Commission, if any.
Generally, the costs of the participation of the observers in the meetings and events shall be carried by their own budgets.
7. Right and Duties of the Observers
The observers shall exercise the following rights and duties to:
A. be informed by the Permanent Secretariat on the date, place and the agenda of the meetings or other events in which they are entitled to participate;
have access to the relevant documents of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies in compliance with the Commission’s decisions;
C. be given the possibility to express their views and positions at the Commission’s meetings, as well as at the meetings of the Commission’s subsidiary bodies, and to have them reflected as appropriate in the relevant documents;
D. take part in the programs or projects initiated or implemented by the Commission in which they are invited to participate, or to make any other contributions on a voluntary basis;
E. respect in their practices the principles and objectives of the Convention.
8. Reciprocity and cost-sharing
The cooperation between the Commission and the observer should be based on the principle of reciprocity.
In case of joint activities between the Commission and the observer, the costs-sharing shall be discussed on case-by-case basis.
9. Termination of the Observer Status
The observer status may be terminated by a decision of the Commission. The Permanent Secretariat shall duly inform the observer on the decision of the Commission.