Official Contact Points

Mandate

The Secretariat communicates with an Official Contact Point (OCP) of a Party on official issues such as:

  • Notices regarding participation in meetings of the Conference of the Parties;
  • Circulation of the reports of these meetings;
  • Proposals for the addition of chemicals to Annex III of the Convention;
  • Inclusion in the PIC procedure;
  • Nomination of experts to subsidiary bodies such as the Chemical Review Committee.

The functions of an OCP are clearly distinguished from those of a designated national authority (DNA) with whom the Secretariat regularly communicates on administrative matters as required by the Convention.

Frequency

Parties are to inform the Secretariat of the name and address of such official contact points as soon as possible. Any changes shall also be notified to the Secretariat.

Rapid transmission of this information supports the effective transmission of information to, from and between Parties, as well as other stakeholders (as appropriate), in relation to the Convention.

Format

The sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention (May 2013) adopted a harmonized form for notifications of contacts to the Secretariat, including any modifications or additions as they occur. This form was also submitted to and adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention at its eleventh meeting and the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention at its sixth meeting. The form has been harmonized and may be used to transmit information on designated contacts in accordance with the provisions of the Basel, Rotterdam and/or Stockholm conventions. This is intended to facilitate transmission of information to the Secretariat while respecting the legal autonomy of each Convention.

This form is available in all six official United Nations languages and can be downloaded in English, French or Spanish.

Procedures and processes of the Secretariat

Parties are requested to send the form duly completed to the Secretariat by fax (+41 (0)22 917 8098) or e-mail (contacts@brsmeas.org). It is important to note that self-nominations will not be considered.

The form must be completed by an entity duly authorized by the Government to communicate such information to the Secretariat, such as the permanent mission to the United Nations or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The information transmitted will be included in the official records of the Secretariat as well as on the website of the Rotterdam Convention (www.pic.int), as the officially designated official contact points of the Rotterdam Convention.

List of Official Contact Points:

Please click here to access the list of designated official contact points.