A number of activities can be taken both prior to and during negotiations of a new MEA to ensure that States will be better prepared to comply with its requirements when it is adopted. These activities include the exchange of information among States, coordination at the national level among the different ministries and agencies that will be involved in compliance, and workshops on compliance.
Some States, such as the Cook Islands, have prepared “diplomatic passports” which provide basic information on the negotiations. This can be particularly useful for new negotiators. Such “passports” can be general (describing the negotiating process and etiquette). They may also highlight the key issues at stake in the forthcoming negotiations.
One difficulty that many States face is that there is no formalized, established process for negotiations (including at the Conferences of the Parties). This lack of an established process has many serious implications. This means that no one necessarily knows how to prepare for negotiations, select the delegation, obtain funding for participating, identify key issues and negotiating positions, participate in the negotiating process, or briefing the relevant persons after the negotiations. No one is prepared because no one has specific responsibilities to prepare for the negotiation. The Government may have difficulty finding people with appropriate expertise and skills to negotiate, particularly on short notice. After a negotiating session or COP, the knowledge from that particular event is not necessarily passed on to subsequent negotiators. This means that there is often little institutional memory about the negotiating issues or the positions that the State took on those issues.
Accordingly, one basic way that a State can greatly improve its negotiating capacity is to develop a standard process for preparing for and participating in negotiations. The process can start simply and evolve. It can stary by designating the focal point, a process for consultation before the negotiations, and other similar measures. The Checklist for Preparing for Negotiations, which follows, provides some considerations in developing or strengthening national processes to prepare for negotiations.