States Parties 161 States Not Party 36
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Statement on the Extension Request Process 11th Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty Phnom Penh, Cambodia28 November 2011
Thank you Mr President.
Article 5(4) of the treaty lists the information that a requesting State Party must include in its extension request. These requirements have been interpreted by some States Parties as requiring very long submissions. In fact, what is required is useful “detail”, particularly on what progress has been made to date and on plans for the extension period. But providing such details does not mean that requests have to be long. Simple tables should i) summarize past clearance over the past five or preferably ten years; ii) summarize release of suspected mined areas by other means; iii) identify precisely how much land remains to be surveyed and how much to be cleared iv) detail the projected annual productivity rate during the extension period, and v) sets out the budget for the extension period.
Shorter, sharper requests will facilitate the extension request process for all States Parties. In particular, they will help the Analyzing Group to focus on substantive issues rather than on the need to clarify data in the requests. The ICBL would suggest that the key data tables be mandatory, without which requests would be sent back for amendments. This streamlined procedure should enable analyses to be made public earlier with an opportunity for external experts to comment and for amendments to be possible. These suggested improvements could be tested in 2012 within the existing framework, and reviewed if necessary.
In addition, given that circumstances can change quickly, a mid-term review for any State Party seeking an extension of more than five years to its Article 5 deadline could be instituted, to ensure that other States Parties and potential donors have reliable, up-to-date information on which to base their decisions on support to mine action programs, and to assess whether states are on track to meeting the commitments made in the extension request.
Thank you.
