Regional Workshop on Reporting, Monitoring and Data Sharing (MEDEXPOL 2024) - Press Release – Oct 01, 2024

    Regional Workshop on Reporting, Monitoring and Data Sharing (MEDEXPOL 2024) - Press Release

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    The 15th Meeting of the Focal Points of REMPEC (Malta, June 2023), recognized the lack of reporting, revisions, and updates under MEDGIS-MAR and the Country Profile, and the necessity of crucial involvement of the Contracting Parties (CPs) in the maintenance and update of these Platforms.  The Meeting also recognized the discrepancies between the information on operational aspects and incidents of the Reports provided under the Barcelona Convention Reporting System (BCRS) and those available on the Country Profiles and the MEDGIS-MAR’s ‘accidents’ and ‘equipment’ databases.   

    In this context, REMPEC organized the Regional Workshop on Reporting, Monitoring and Data Sharing (MEDEXPOL 2024), in Lija, Malta from 25 to 26 September 2024, to implement the recommendations of the 15th Meeting of REMPEC Focal Points, pertaining to these topics.  The Workshop was co-financed by the International Maritime Organizations’ (IMO) Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP) and the Mediterranean Trust Fund (MTF).

    The Workshop gathered around 20 participants, from 15 out of 22 Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, as well as representatives from CEDRE and ITOPF.  The target audience for the Workshop were the designated members of the Correspondence Groups established within the Mediterranean Technical Working Group (MTWG).  In addition to the REMPEC OPRC Focal Points, the invitation for participation to the Workshop was also extended to specialized agencies of the UNEP/MAP and other governmental and non-governmental organizations whose activities are relevant for the work of REMPEC.

    Beyond raising awareness on the effective implementation of the instruments, the Workshop considered more closely the added value and benefits at national level and beyond (e.g. statistical purposes, trends and outlooks) of reporting on and implementation of the instruments. It also highlighted the need to further work on thresholds for reporting and on the definition of assessment criteria for acute pollution. The Workshop also recognized that reporting and monitoring are closely linked to the availability of accurate and up-to-date information and that disaggregation of information sources at national level could hinder access to correct and up-to-date information and data. The Workshop concurred to foster CPs’ ownership of REMPEC’s platforms as their primary interface for activities related to the implementation of both Protocols.

     

    Furthermore, the Workshop agreed on conclusions and recommendations to be submitted to the Sixteenth Meeting of the Focal Points of REMPEC to be held in 2025.Inter alia, the Workshop agreed:

    On Reporting;

    • to assess possible future developments of MEDGIS-MAR to enable possible interconnection with the Country Profile pages to allow for a unique update by CPs and easier update of the layer “accidents”;
    • Contracting Parties to get better organized for reporting activities at national level in order to facilitate the exchange of reporting needs.

     On Monitoring

    • to prepare a proposal for lowering the minimum threshold for reporting, taking into consideration other regional sea conventions, as well as MSFD, for submission to the 16th Meeting of Focal Points of REMPEC;
    • Contracting Parties to take note and apply the recommendation of the Decision IG.26/3 of COP 23 on the submission of the report on incidents and spills.

    On Data Sharing

    • to develop a layout of the new structure for the Country Profiles (in coordination with the Correspondence group under the MTWG) and provide a detailed assessment of the feasibility for its upgrade, in preparation for the 16th Meeting of the REMPEC Focal Points;
    • Contracting Parties to agree on the preparation of an update of the “Study on trends and outlook of marine pollution”, eventually considering other merging topics.

     

    Further Background Information

    REMPEC's objective is to contribute to preventing and reducing pollution from ships and combating pollution in case of emergency. In this respect, the mission of REMPEC is to assist the Contracting Parties (CPs) in meeting their obligations at the international, regional and European instruments.  According to these instruments, the Contracting Parties have a set of obligations, in terms of Exchange of information, Monitoring and Reporting that they committed to implement. These provisions encompass the protection of the marine environment in the Mediterranean and emergencies.

    To facilitate and assist the Mediterranean costal States in fulfilling these obligations, digital templates of different reports were developed, and platforms established to host data sets and information. In 2018, the CPs adopted under the Barcelona Convention System, a Reporting System (BCRS), to facilitate the reporting on the implementation of the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols, including the 2002 Prevention and Emergency Protocol and the 1994 Offshore Protocol.  To support the reporting on the implementation of these Protocols, REMPEC developed: The Mediterranean Integrated Geographical Information System on Marine Pollution Risk Assessment and Response (MEDGIS-MAR) on national data (response equipment, accidents) used commonly by all the Mediterranean Coastal States and the Country Profiles that contain detailed information on measures in place at national level for the implementation of the instruments.