The Conference of the Parties (CoP) is the governing body of the Convention and is composed of representatives of countries that have ratified/accessed to the Convention.

The CoP met for the first time in Brussels (Belgium) on 22-24 November 2000 and has been meeting on a regular basis every two years since.

At each CoP, a Bureau is elected from amongst the country representatives to help guide the work of the Convention between meetings of the Conference of the Parties.

The CoP has four main tasks.

1. To review the implementation of the Convention;
2. To advise countries on issues concerning prevention, preparedness and response to industrial accidents with transboundary consequences;
3. To establish a programme of work for the activities under the Convention and;
4. To establish the subsidiary bodies (such as the Working Group on Implementation and the Working Group on Development) needed to address matters related to the implementation and development of the Convention.

The CoP is working in accordance with its rules of procedures adopted at the first meeting.

Meetings of the Conference of the Parties

Other Activities
Joint seminar on land use planning around hazardous industrial sites (The Hague, The Netherlands, 11-12 November 2010)
Joint management of transboundary emergencies involving international water paths (Slubice, Poland, 8-10 September 2009)