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Working Group on Development

The Working Group on the Development of the Convention (later renamed the Working Group on Development) is a subsidiary body created by the Conference of the Parties at its third meeting in 2004. It has an open-ended composition, that is to say that it is open to representatives of all Parties. It is convened when required and is otherwise dormant.
The Working Group on Development reviews developments in the legal instruments in other international forums in regard to the Convention and in particular Annex I (the categories of substances and preparations and named substances and their quantities for the purpose of defining hazardous activities).
The Working Group made amendments to Annex I during 2005-2006 and the revised version was adopted at the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties in November 2006.
The seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties, in 2012, requested the Working Group on Development to draft a revised annex I to bring it into line with the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (ST/SG/AC.10/30/Rev.4) and to maintain consistency with the corresponding European Union legislation (Seveso III Directive). The meeting also requested the Working Group to evaluate the possible amendment of the Convention to address a number of other provisions and issues. The revised annex I was adopted at the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties in December 2014 and entered into force a year later.
The Conference of the Parties, still at its eighth meeting, requested the Working Group to prepare a draft amendment revising articles 1, 9, 18 and 29, considering also related provisions, articles and annexes of the Convention, for adoption at its ninth meeting. Furthermore, it mandated the Working Group to prepare draft text to open the Convention for accession by United Nations Member States beyond the UNECE region as part of that amendment. In the period 2015-2016, the Working Group developed and agreed on a draft amendment to the Convention. However, the Conference of the Parties, at its ninth meeting, was unable to reach a consensus on the amendment.
Terms of reference of the Working Group on Development, adopted at the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (see page 8).
Meetings of the Working Group on Development