Geneva, Switzerland, 8 to 10 March 2011
The meeting of the Global Monitoring Plan Coordination Group was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 8 to 10 March 2011. It was attended by the nominated coordination group members from all five UN Regions. The aim of the meeting was to finalize the revision of the guidance document on the Global Monitoring Plan (GMP) for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and discuss the implementation of the second phase of the plan. The preliminary revised guidance on the GMP, including consideration of long-range transport, climate effects, specimen banking and the impact of listing nine new chemicals under the Convention, will be submitted to the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention in April 2011. The coordination group also revised the strategy, process and structure of regional monitoring reports to accommodate the requirements for the second and future effectiveness evaluations of the Convention. The arrangements for the second phase of the GMP and timelines for activities to facilitate the preparation of regional monitoring reports were established and agreed by the members of the global coordination group.