The 21st Meeting of the Revised Kyoto Convention Management Committee (RKC/MC) was held from 18 to 20 November 2019 at the WCO Headquarters in Brussels. In her opening remarks, Ms. Ana B. Hinojosa, Director of Compliance and Facilitation, welcomed the accession, since the last RKC/MC meeting held in June 2019, of Ghana and Brazil as the 119th and 120th Contracting Parties to the RKC. She also provided a brief update on the work done and progress made by the Working Group on the Comprehensive Review of the Revised Kyoto Convention (WGRKC). She further emphasized the expectation of this RKC/MC meeting to provide guidance to the WGRKC in the right direction by bringing out a more concrete RKC review process and a clearer way forward. She reminded of the important discussions held in the last RKC/MC Meeting and of the conclusions from the June 2019 Policy Commission and Council.
Since the 20th Meeting of the RKC/MC, the WGRKC held one meeting in October 2019 and made good progress with the examination of more than 170 proposals, covering 37 concepts provided by Members and external stakeholders. Considering this status, the 21st RKC/MC meeting discussed the following items which were mainly related to the Comprehensive Review of the RKC:
- Update on the discussions and conclusions of the Policy Commission/Council at their June 2019 sessions;
- Overall report by the Chairperson of the WGRKC and progress report on the comprehensive review of the RKC;
- Review process steps, Terms of Reference, Work plan and working method of the WGRKC;
- Update of the RKC ICT Guidelines; and
- Any other business.
The Meeting came out with concrete conclusions and guidance on the above items. It discussed the importance of the level of ambition in taking forward the work of the review under the existing mandate, in a way that was efficient, effective and inclusive of the broader Membership, so that the RKC remained relevant and sustainable for all Members. The RKC/MC Meeting also reconfirmed the conclusion that the RKC would remain a flagship Convention of the WCO, and that any work undertaken would seek only to further enrich the Convention. The Meeting confirmed that the 7th WGRKC Meeting will be held as scheduled from 9 to 13 December 2019, with the main task to develop a new Work Plan. The outcomes of these discussions are to be reported back to the RKC/MC Meeting, agreed to be held from 10 to 12 February 2020.
Furthermore, the Secretariat provided an update on all RKC-related activities and intersessional developments, including the update of the RKC ICT Guidelines. Overall, the 21st RKC/MC Meeting held substantive discussions and participants expressed their appreciation for the substantial work done by the WGRKC.
27/11/2019