INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE FOR AN
  INTERNATIONAL LEGALLY BINDING INSTRUMENT FOR
  IMPLEMENTING INTERNATIONAL ACTION ON
  CERTAIN PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS

ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS: ADOPTION OF THE RULES OF PROCEDURE

The Secretariat has the honour to transmit to the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, in the annex to this note, draft rules of procedure for meetings of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, which have been prepared, mutatis mutandis, on the basis of the rules of procedure adopted for meetings of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for an Internationally Legally Binding Instrument for the Application of the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, for consideration and possible adoption by the Committee.

Annex

DRAFT RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR THE MEETINGS OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL
NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE FOR AN INTERNATIONAL LEGALLY BINDING
INSTRUMENT FOR IMPLEMENTING INTERNATIONAL ACTION ON
CERTAIN PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS

I. PURPOSES

These rules of procedure shall govern the negotiation of an international legally binding instrument for implementing international action on certain persistent organic pollutants.

II. DEFINITIONS

Rule 1

1. "State Party" means a State participating in the work of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for an International Legally Binding Instrument for Implementing International Action on Certain Persistent Organic Pollutants (hereinafter referred to as the Committee).

2. "Chair" means the Chair elected in accordance with rule 8, paragraph 1, of the present rules of procedure.

3. "Secretariat" means the secretariat provided by the Executive Director required to service the negotiations.

4. "Executive Director" means the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme.

5. "Meeting" means any session convened in accordance with these rules of procedure.

6. "Representatives present and voting" means representatives of State Parties present and casting an affirmative or negative vote. Representatives who abstain from voting are considered as not voting.

III. PLACE AND DATES OF MEETINGS

Rule 2

The venue and dates of the meetings shall be decided by the Committee in consultation with the Secretariat.

IV. AGENDA

Rule 3

The Executive Director, after approval by the Bureau referred to in paragraph 1 of rule 9 below, shall submit to each meeting the provisional agenda for the following meeting. The provisional agenda shall include all items recommended by the Committee.

Rule 4

At the beginning of each meeting, the Committee shall adopt the agenda for the meeting on the basis of the provisional agenda.

Rule 5

During a meeting, the Committee may revise the agenda for the meeting by adding, deleting or amending items. Only items which the Committee considers to be urgent and important may be added to its agenda during the meeting.

V. REPRESENTATION

Rule 6

The delegation of each State Party shall consist of a head of delegation and such alternate representatives and advisers as may be required.

Rule 7

The head of delegation may designate an alternate representative or an adviser to act as a representative.

VI. OFFICERS

Rule 8

1. The Committee shall elect from among the representatives of the State Parties a Bureau composed of one Chair and four Vice-Chairs, one of whom shall act as Rapporteur.

2. In electing the officers, the Committee shall have due regard to the principle of equitable geographical representation. Each of the five regional groups shall be represented by one member.

Rule 9

If the Chair finds it necessary to be absent from a meeting or any part thereof, he or she shall call on a Vice-Chair to take his or her place.

Rule 10

If the Chair is unable to continue to perform his or her functions, a new Chair shall be elected for the unexpired term, with due regard to rule 8, paragraph 2.

Rule 11

If a Vice-Chair finds it necessary to be absent from a meeting or any part thereof, a new Vice-Chair shall be designated by the same regional group. Such substitution shall not exceed the period of one meeting.

Rule 12

If a Vice-Chair resigns or is otherwise unable to complete his or her term of office, a new officer shall be elected for the unexpired term, with due regard to rule 8, paragraph 2.

VII. SECRETARIAT

Rule 13

The Executive Director may designate his or her representative during the meetings.

Rule 14

The Executive Director shall provide and direct the staff of the Secretariat required to service the negotiations, including any subsidiary organs which may be established by the Committee.

Rule 15

The Executive Director, or his or her designated representative, may, subject to rule 19, make oral as well as written statements at the meetings concerning any matter under consideration.

Rule 16

The Executive Director shall be responsible for convening meetings in accordance with rules 2 and 3 and for making all the necessary arrangements for meetings, including the preparation and distribution of documents at least six weeks in advance of the meetings.

Rule 17

The Secretariat shall, in accordance with these rules: interpret speeches made at meetings; receive, translate and circulate the documents of the meetings; publish and circulate reports and relevant documentation to the State Parties; have the custody of the documents in the archives; and generally perform all other work that the Committee may require.

VIII. CONDUCT OF BUSINESS

Rule 18

The Chair may declare a meeting open and permit the debate to proceed when at least one third of the State Parties participating in the meeting are present. The presence of a majority of State Parties so participating shall be required for any decision to be taken.

Rule 19

In addition to exercising the powers conferred upon him or her elsewhere by these rules, the Chair shall declare the opening and closing of each meeting, shall direct the discussion, ensure observance of these rules, accord the right to speak, put questions to the vote and announce decisions. The Chair shall rule on points of order and, subject to these rules, shall have control over the proceedings of the meetings and over the maintenance of order at meetings. The Chair may propose to the meeting the limitation of the time to be allowed to speakers, the limitation of the number of times each State Party may speak on any subject, the closure of the list of speakers or the closure of the debate. The Chair may also propose the suspension or the adjournment of the meeting or of the debate on the question under discussion.

Rule 20

The Chair, in the exercise of his or her functions, remains under the authority of the Committee.

Rule 21

A Vice-Chair acting as Chair shall have the same powers and duties as the Chair.

Rule 22

The Chair shall not vote, but may designate another member of his or her delegation to vote in his or her place.

Rule 23

No one may address the meeting without having previously obtained the permission of the Chair. Subject to the rules, the Chair shall call upon speakers in the order in which they signify their desire to speak. The Chair shall call a speaker to order if his or her remarks are not relevant to the subject under discussion.

Rule 24

The Chair, Vice-Chair or a designated representative of any subsidiary organ which may be established subject to rule 48, may be accorded precedence in speaking for the purpose of explaining the conclusion arrived at by the subsidiary organ concerned and for the purpose of replying to questions.

Rule 25

1. During the discussion of any matter, a representative of a State Party may at any time raise a point of order and the point of order shall be immediately decided by the Chair in accordance with the rules of procedure. A representative of a State Party may appeal against the ruling of the Chair. The appeal shall be immediately put to the vote, and the ruling of the Chair shall stand unless overruled by a majority vote of the representatives present and voting.

2. A representative of a State Party raising a point of order may not speak on the substance of the matter under discussion.

Rule 26

The Committee may limit the time allowed to each speaker and the number of times each person may speak on any question, except on procedural questions, when the Chair shall limit each intervention to a maximum of five minutes. When debate is limited and a speaker has spoken for his or her allotted time, the Chair shall call him or her to order without delay.

Rule 27

During the course of a debate, the Chair may announce the list of speakers and, with the consent of the Committee, declare the list closed. The Chair may, however, accord the right of reply to any State Party if, in his or her opinion, a speech delivered after he or she has declared the list closed renders this justified. When the debate on an item is concluded because there are no other speakers, the Chair, with the consent of the Committee, shall declare the debate closed.

Rule 28

During the discussion of any matter, a representative of a State Party may move the adjournment of the debate on the subject under discussion. In addition to the proposer of the motion, one representative of a State Party may speak in favour of and one against the motion, after which the motion shall be immediately put to the vote.

Rule 29

A representative of a State Party may at any time move the closure of the debate on the subject under discussion, whether or not any other representative of a State Party has signified his/her wish to speak. Permission to speak on the closure of the debate shall be accorded only to two representatives of State Parties opposing the closure, after which the motion shall be immediately put to the vote. If the Committee is in favour of the closure, the Chairperson shall declare the closure of the debate.

Rule 30

During the discussion of any matter, a representative of a State Party may move the suspension or the adjournment of the meeting. Such motion shall not be debated, but shall immediately be put to the vote.

Rule 31

Subject to rule 25, and regardless of the order in which they are submitted, the following motions shall have precedence, in the following order, over all other proposals or motions before the meeting:

(a) To suspend the meeting;

(b) To adjourn the meeting;

(c) To adjourn the debate on the subject under discussion;

(d) To close the debate on the subject under discussion.

Rule 32

Proposals and amendments shall normally be introduced in writing and submitted to the Secretariat, which shall circulate copies to all representatives of State parties. As a general rule, no proposal shall be discussed or put to the vote at any meeting of the Committee unless copies of it have been circulated in the official languages of the meeting to all representatives of State Parties not later than the day preceding the meeting. Subject to the consent of the Committee, the Chair may, however, permit the discussion and consideration of proposals or amendments which have not been circulated or have only been circulated the same day.

Rule 33

Subject to rule 31, any motion calling for a decision on the competence of the Committee to adopt any proposal or any amendment submitted to it shall be put to the vote before a vote is taken on the proposal or amendment in question.

Rule 34

A proposal or a motion may be withdrawn by its proposer at any time before voting on it has commenced, provided that the proposal or the motion has not been amended. A proposal or motion which has thus been withdrawn may be reintroduced by another representative of a State Party.

Rule 35

When a proposal has been adopted or rejected, it may not be reconsidered at the same meeting unless the Committee, by a two-thirds majority of the representatives present and voting, so decide. Permission to speak on a motion to reconsider shall be accorded only to two representatives of State Parties opposing the motion, after which it shall immediately be put to the vote.

Rule 36

Each State Party shall have one vote.

Rule 37

1. The Committee shall make every effort to reach agreement on all matters of substance by consensus. If all efforts to reach consensus have been exhausted and no agreement reached, the decision shall, as a last resort, be taken by a two-thirds majority of the representatives present and voting.

2. Decisions of the Committee on procedural matters shall be taken by a majority of the representatives present and voting.

3. Where there is disagreement as to whether a matter to be voted on is a substantive or procedural matter, that issue shall be decided by a two-thirds majority of the representatives present and voting.

Rule 38

Subject to rule 44, the Committee shall normally vote by show of hands, but any representative of a State Party may request a roll-call, which shall then be taken in the English alphabetical order of the names of the State Parties, beginning with the State Party whose name is drawn by lot by the Chair. If, however, at any time a State Party requests a secret ballot, that shall be the method of voting on the issue in question.

Rule 39

The vote of each State Party participating in a roll-call shall be recorded in the relevant documents of the meeting.

Rule 40

After the Chair has announced the beginning of voting, no representative of a State Party shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order in connection with the actual conduct of the voting. The Chair may permit representatives of State Parties to explain their votes, either before or after the voting, except when the vote is taken by secret ballot. The Chair may limit the time to be allowed for such explanation. The Chair shall not permit the proposer of a proposal or of an amendment to explain his or her vote on his or her own proposal or amendment.

Rule 41

A representative of a State Party may move that parts of a proposal or of an amendment shall be voted on separately. If objection is made to the request for division, the motion for division shall be voted upon. Permission to speak on the motion for division shall be given only to two representatives of State Parties in favour and two against. If the motion for division is carried, those parts of the proposal or of the amendment which are subsequently approved shall be put to the vote as a whole. If all operative parts of the proposal or of the amendment have been rejected, the proposal or the amendment shall be considered to have been rejected as a whole.

Rule 42

1. When an amendment to a proposal is moved, the amendment shall be voted on first. When two or more amendments to a proposal are moved, the Committee shall vote first on the amendment furthest removed in substance from the original proposal and then on the amendment next furthest therefrom and so on, until all the amendments have been put to the vote. Where, however, the adoption of one amendment necessarily implies the rejection of another amendment, the latter amendment shall not be put to the vote. If one or more amendments are adopted, the amended proposal shall then be voted upon. If no amendments are adopted, the proposal shall be put to the vote in its original form.

2. A motion is considered an amendment to a proposal if it adds to, deletes from or revises part of that proposal.

Rule 43

1. If two or more proposals are related to the same question, the Committee shall, unless it decides otherwise, vote on the proposals in the order in which they have been submitted. The Committee may, after each vote on a proposal, decide whether to vote on the next proposal.

2. Any proposals or motions requiring that no decision be taken on the substance of such proposals shall, however, be considered as previous questions and shall be put to the vote before them.

Rule 44

All elections shall be held by secret ballot unless, in the absence of any objection, the Committee decides to proceed without taking a ballot when there is an agreed candidate.

Rule 45

1. If, when one person or State Party only is to be elected, no candidate obtains, in the first ballot, the majority required, a second ballot shall be taken, restricted to the two candidates obtaining the largest number of votes. If in the second ballot the votes are equally divided, the Chair shall decide between the candidates by drawing lots.

2. In the case of a tie in the first ballot among the candidates obtaining the second largest number of votes, a special ballot shall be held for the purpose of reducing the number of candidates to two. In the case of a tie among three or more candidates obtaining the largest number of votes, a second ballot shall be held. If a tie results among more than two candidates, the number shall be reduced to two by lot and the balloting, restricted to them, shall continue in accordance with the preceding paragraph.

Rule 46

1. When two or more elective places are to be filled at one time under the same conditions, those candidates obtaining the required majority on the first ballot shall be elected.

2. If the number of candidates obtaining such majority is more than the number of places to be filled, those candidates obtaining the largest number of votes shall be elected.

3. If the number of candidates obtaining such majority is less than the number of places to be filled, additional ballots shall be held to fill the remaining places, the voting being restricted to the candidates obtaining the greatest number of votes in the previous ballot, who shall number not more than twice the places remaining to be filled. In the case of a tie between a greater number of unsuccessful candidates, however, a special ballot shall be held for the purpose of reducing the number of candidates to the required number.

4. If three restricted ballots are inconclusive, unrestricted ballots shall follow in which votes may be cast for any eligible person or member. If three such unrestricted ballots are inconclusive, the next three ballots (subject to exception in a case similar to that of the tie mentioned at the end of the previous paragraph of this rule) shall be restricted to the candidates obtaining the greatest number of votes in the third of the unrestricted ballots. The number of such candidates shall be not more than twice the number of places remaining to be filled.

5. The following three ballots thereafter shall be unrestricted and so on, until all the places are filled.

Rule 47

If a vote is equally divided on matters other than elections, the proposal shall be regarded as rejected.

IX. SUBSIDIARY ORGANS

Rule 48

1. The Committee may establish such subsidiary organs as may be necessary for the effective discharge of its functions.

2. Subject to paragraph 2 of rule 8, each subsidiary organ shall elect its own officers. The number of such officers shall be no more than five.

3. The rules of procedure of subsidiary organs shall be those of the Committee, as appropriate, subject to such modifications as the Committee may decide upon in the light of proposals by the subsidiary organs concerned.

X. LANGUAGES AND RECORDS

Rule 49

Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish shall be the languages of the meetings.

Rule 50

1. Speeches made in a language of the meeting shall be interpreted into the other languages.

2. A representative may speak in a language other than a language of the meeting. In this case he or she shall himself or herself provide for interpretation into one of the languages of the meeting, and interpretation into the other languages by the interpreters of the Secretariat may be based on the interpretation given in the first language.

Rule 51

Official documents shall be made available in the languages of the meeting.

XI. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE MEETINGS

Rule 52

The plenary meetings shall be held in public unless the meeting decides otherwise. All decisions taken at a private meeting shall be announced at an early public meeting.

Rule 53

Meetings of subsidiary organs, other than any drafting group that may be set up, shall be held in public unless the organ concerned decides otherwise.

XII. OBSERVERS

Rule 54

Observers may participate in the work of the meeting in accordance with the established practice of the United Nations General Assembly.

Rule 55

Relevant non-governmental organizations participating in the meeting as observers may make their contributions to the negotiating process, as appropriate, on the understanding that these organizations shall not have any negotiating role during the process and taking into account decisions 1/1 and 2/1, adopted by the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development at its first and second sessions, concerning the participation of non-governmental organizations.

XIII. SUSPENSION AND AMENDMENT OF THE RULES OF PROCEDURE

Rule 56

A rule of procedure may be amended or suspended by a decision of the Committee taken by consensus, provided that twenty-four hours notice of the proposal has been given.

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