ENB:04:34
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ARTICLE 11 -- FIELDS TO BE COVERED IN NATIONAL ACTION PROGRAMMES:
Austria, supported by Burkina Faso, Canada, Chad,
Uzbekistan, Mali and Tanzania, affirmed the importance of Article
11 in describing the types of activities that should comprise
national action programmes. China, supported by Brazil, the Russian
Federation, the EU, the US, Australia, Switzerland and Finland,
called for the deletion of the entire article and suggested instead
that this list of the 13 fields be placed in an annex. Sweden noted
that it was awkward to have a non-mandatory list of activities
within a legally-binding Convention. Saudi Arabia highlighted the
difficulty in prescribing fields without fully understanding the
capacities of the affected countries. Kenya raised fears that by
relegating this article to an annex, it would minimize the
important commitments that were made in Geneva and Nairobi.
The African Group reformulated the Article and presented its new
draft, which is clearer and more concise than the version contained
in the Secretariat's draft. It contains a list of 11 fields to be
included in national action programmes. Brazil, supported by
Mexico, commented that although this is an improvement, this type
of detail regarding the contents of the national action programmes
should not be incorporated into the body of the Convention.
Instead, it should be included in an annex. China and Japan said
that until the precise nature of the regional annexes is defined,
discussion on this article should be postponed. Mali, on behalf of
the African Group, said that Article 11 is indispensable in the
text.