EPRs
have their genesis in the work of the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
In 1991, the Environment Ministers of OECD launched
a programme for environmental performance reviews
to help OECD Member countries improve their individual
and collective performances in environmental management.
At the second Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe", held in Luzern,
Switzerland, in April 1993, the Ministers decided
that the Performance Review Programme would be gradually
extended to the whole region of Europe and mandated
UNECE to carry out this extended programme. In 1996, at its third
session, the Committee on Environmental Policy decided
to make the Environmental Performance Reviews a
part of the regular programme of the ECE. The mandate
was renewed in 1999, 2001 and 2004.
Since 1996, Central, Southeastern and Eastern
Europe and Central Asia countries have been reviewed by UNECE,
in addition to a few countries in transition
that were reviewed in cooperation with OECD (Poland (), Bulgaria (1996), Belarus (-) and the Russian Federation ()).
The EPR Programme has begun its second
round of reviews. Second Reviews have already been
carried out in Belarus (2005), Bulgaria (2000), Estonia (2001), Republic of Moldova (2005) and Ukraine (2006) and they are
planned in Serbia and Montenegro (2007).