Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) and the Oslo Protocol
The text of the 1979 LRTAP Convention does not provide for the establishment of a compliance procedure. The compliance review procedure for the LRTAP Convention was established by a decision of the Executive Body and applies to all Protocols to the Convention. Two protocols, adopted prior to the Executive Body decision, did include articles on compliance: The Protocol on VOCs (article 3, paragraph 3), and the 1994 (Oslo) Protocol on Further Reduction of Sulphur Emissions (article 7). Article 7 would have established an Implementation Committee. In 1997, after entry into force of the Protocol on VOCs but prior to entry into force of the 1994 Sulphur Protocol, the Executive Body adopted decision 1997/2 establishing the Implementation Committee with a structure and functions and procedures for review of compliance with all Protocols (ECE/EB.AIR/53, annex III). Subsequent decisions expanded upon the applicability of the Implementation Committee, elaborating the procedures for review of compliance. All the subsequent Protocols contain an article on compliance providing for regular reviews of compliance to be carried out by the Implementation Committee in accordance with its agreed terms of reference and procedures.
The first LRTAP Protocol incorporated an existing monitoring programme into the Convention, the Co-operative Programme for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long-range Transmission of Air Pollutants in Europe (EMEP). EMEP’s main function is to supply States Parties with information on the deposition and concentration of targeted pollutants, and on the quantity and significance of the flow of those pollutants across international borders. EMEP supervises a continuous, daily monitoring programme that measures emissions and the deposition of targeted substances throughout Europe (see http://www.emep.int).
EMEP organises and evaluates the emission data reported by the Parties, and has worked to develop common methodologies to calculate emissions. The Executive Body, composed of representatives of each contracting Party, is charged with reviewing implementation of the Convention.
The compliance system relies upon an Implementation Committee, which has the power to review the compliance of Parties with their reporting requirements. Coupled with the EMEP’s role in monitoring data, the LRTAP Implementation Committee leads the review and verification of Parties’ compliance with their treaty commitments. LRTAP’s Implementation Committee is composed of nine Convention Parties, each of whom must be Party to at least one Protocol to the Convention.
The Implementation Committee can gather additional information by requesting the information through the Secretariat, gathering it in the Party’s territory (but only upon invitation by the Party), or by receiving such information from the Secretariat. At the request of the Executive Body, the Committee prepares reports on compliance with an individual Protocol or on implementation of specified obligations under a Protocol. The Committee includes 9 members, who are elected as Parties (not in their personal capacity).