Notification to the Parties

CONCERNING:

Forty-sixth meeting of the Standing Committee

1. On behalf of Mr K. Stansell (United States of America), Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Conference of the Parties, the Secretariat hereby informs the Parties that the 46th meeting of the Standing Committee is scheduled to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 12 to 15 March 2002. It will be preceded, on 11 March, by a meeting of the Finance Subcommittee of the Standing Committee. Both meetings will take place at the following address:

Centre international de conférences de Genève (CICG)
15 rue de Varembé
1211 GENEVA 20
Switzerland.

2. The provisional Agenda of the meeting of the Standing Committee will be sent with a Notification in December 2001.

3. Parties that are members of the Standing Committee are convened to attend its 46th meeting and the meeting of the Finance Subcommittee. Other Parties are invited to participate as observers. The Registration form attached should be returned no later than 22 February 2002 to allow time for production of documents.

4. In accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Standing Committee, all participants will be required to present official credentials, which may be submitted to the Secretariat in advance or on the first day of attendance at the meeting. The original signed document should be presented, not a photocopy or a fax.

5. Details of the hotels pre-booked for participants in the meeting of the Standing Committee are attached to this Notification in the Hotel booking form.

6. Participants who will represent Parties that are members of the Standing Committee should return the completed Hotel booking form to the Secretariat no later than 8 February 2002 in order to make the appropriate arrangements.

7. Observer Parties should send the completed Hotel booking form to the hotel of their choice no later than 8 February 2002, as pre-booked rooms will not be guaranteed after this date.

8. Please note that the Secretariat is unable to provide any financial assistance for participants other than representatives of Parties that are members of the Standing Committee.

9. The Secretariat reminds Parties that their representatives may require visas. They may wish to submit a copy of this Notification together with their visa application.

10. Documents to be considered at this meeting must be provided to the Secretariat at least 60 days before the meeting, that is before 10 January 2002. The Secretariat cannot guarantee the translation of documents received after this date and these may be distributed at the meeting as information documents in the language in which they were received. As for meetings of the Conference of the Parties, documents submitted should not be longer than 12 pages.

Annexes:

1. Registration form
2. Hotel booking form
3. How to get from hotels to the Centre international de conférences de Genève (CICG)