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: