Decisions, Recommendations & Agreements
A complete list of OSPAR Decisions, Recommendations & Agreements can be found here
Work to implement the OSPAR Convention and its strategies is taken forward through the adoption of decisions, which are legally binding on the Contracting Parties, recommendations and other agreements. Decisions and recommendations set out actions to be taken by the Contracting Parties. These measures are complemented by other agreements setting out:
- issues of importance;
- agreed programmes of monitoring, information collection or other work which the Contracting Parties commit to carry out;
- guidelines or guidance setting out the way that any programme or measure should be implemented;
- actions to be taken by the OSPAR Commission on behalf of the Contracting Parties.
OSPAR 2010 reviewed the applicability of Decisions, Recommendations and Other Agreements within the framework of the OSPAR Convention and agreed that a number of measures could be considered as fulfilled or overtaken by measures adopted at national level or within other forums and therefore not followed by OSPAR anymore. As a consequence, while being set aside, they are retained as part of OSPAR’s ‘acquis’. The list of these measures together with an explanation of why they have been set aside is at Annex 5 to OSPAR 10/23/1. Further reviews are undertaken regularly and as a result:
- OSPAR 2018 agreed to set aside Agreement 2006-04 on the application of the EcoQO system and Agreement 2011-01 on a Voluntary Marine Beach Litter Monitoring Programme.
- OSPAR 2019 agreed to set aside OSPAR Recommendations 2000/1 and 2000/2.
- OSPAR 2020 agreed to set aside PARCOM Decision 90/3 and PARCOM Decision 95/1.
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Found 190 Agreements:
Rules of Procedure of the OSPAR Commission
Reference Number:
Agreement 2013-02e
Work Area(s):
Biodiversity, Human Activities, Hazardous Substances & Eutrophication, Offshore Industry, Radioactive Substances
CEMP Guidelines for marine monitoring and assessment of beach litter
Adopted:
2020, videoconference
Reference Number:
Agreement 2020-02
Work Area(s):
Human Activities
CEMP Guidelines for monitoring and assessment of marine litter ingested by sea turtles
Adopted:
2020, videoconference
Reference Number:
Agreement 2020-03
Work Area(s):
Human Activities
Joint Harmonised Procedure for the Contracting Parties of HELCOM and OSPAR on the granting of exemptions under International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, Regulation A-4 (Replaces Agreement 2015-01)
Adopted:
2020, videoconference
Reference Number:
Agreement 2020-01
Work Area(s):
Human Activities
CEMP Guideline: PH3 Changes in Plankton Diversity. (English only)
Reference Number:
Agreement 2019-07e
Work Area(s):
Biodiversity
CEMP Guideline: PH2 “Changes in Phytoplankton Biomass and Zooplankton Abundance” (English only)
Reference Number:
Agreement 2019-06e
Work Area(s):
Biodiversity
Guidance on the Development of Status Assessments for the OSPAR List of Threatened and/or Declining Species and Habitats (English only)
Reference Number:
Agreement 2019-05e
Work Area(s):
Biodiversity
General consultation procedures for establishing Marine Protected Areas in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction of the OSPAR Maritime Area
Reference Number:
Agreement 2019-09e
Work Area(s):
Biodiversity, Other
OSPAR Guidelines on the reduction of marine litter through Sustainability Education Programmes for fishers
Reference Number:
Agreement 2019-08e
Work Area(s):
Human Activities
Guidance on the Production of the Quality Status Report 2023. Update 2020
Reference Number:
Agreement 2019-02
Work Area(s):
Biodiversity, Human Activities, Hazardous Substances & Eutrophication, Offshore Industry, Radioactive Substances, Other
OSPAR Guidelines for the Preparation of draft OSPAR Decisions, Recommendations and other Arrangements Draft OSPAR Background Documents and Other Reports. Replaces Agreement 2004-01
Reference Number:
Agreement 2019-01
Work Area(s):
Biodiversity, Human Activities, Hazardous Substances & Eutrophication, Offshore Industry, Radioactive Substances
Guidelines for the revision of the OSPAR list of threatened and/or declining species and habitats and associated documents. This Agreement replaces Agreement 2016-02
Reference Number:
Agreement 2019-04
Work Area(s):
Biodiversity
Criteria for the Identification of Species and Habitats in need of Protection and their Method of Application (Texel-Faial Criteria) - Replaces Agreement 2003-13
Reference Number:
Agreement 2019-03e
Work Area(s):
Biodiversity
MoU between the IMO and OSPAR on the promotion of the London Convention and London Protocol
Reference Number:
Agreement 2018-10e
Work Area(s):
Biodiversity, Human Activities
CEMP Guideline: Common indicator: Abundance at the relevant temporal scale of cetacean species regularly present (M4). Version of March 2019
Reference Number:
Agreement 2018-09e
Work Area(s):
Biodiversity
Revised OSPAR Reporting Format for Dumping at Sea and revised supplementary Explanatory Notes (Replaces 2016-08)
Reference Number:
Agreement 2018-02e
Work Area(s):
Human Activities
CEMP Guideline: Common indicator in Region IV: Change in average trophic level of marine predators (FW4)
Reference Number:
Agreement 2018-08e
Work Area(s):
Biodiversity
CEMP Guideline: Common Indicator: PH1/FW5 Plankton lifeforms
Reference Number:
Agreement 2018-07e
Work Area(s):
Biodiversity
CEMP Guideline: Common indicator: Condition of benthic habitat communities (BH2) – common approach
Reference Number:
Agreement 2018-06e
Work Area(s):
Biodiversity
CEMP Guideline: Combined guideline for the common indicators FC1, FC2, FC3 and FW3 for fish and food webs
Reference Number:
Agreement 2018-05e
Work Area(s):
Biodiversity
Explanatory Notes to the Reporting Format for the OSPAR Database on Offshore Renewable Energy Developments (Replaces Agreement 2015-02)
Reference Number:
Agreement 2018-03e
Work Area(s):
Human Activities
CEMP Guideline: Common Indicator - Changes to non-indigenous species communities (NIS3)
Reference Number:
Agreement 2018-04e
Work Area(s):
Biodiversity
Guidelines for the submission of Information about, and Assessment of, the Application of BAT and BEP in Nuclear Facilities (Replaces Agreement 2004-03)
Reference Number:
Agreement 2018-01e
Work Area(s):
Radioactive Substances
OSPAR CEMP Guidelines Common Indicator: BH3 Extent of Physical damage to predominant and special habitats
Reference Number:
Agreement 2017-09
Work Area(s):
Biodiversity
Fishing-for-Litter Guidelines
Reference Number:
Agreement 2017-08
Work Area(s):
Human Activities