Treaties provide obligations for States to undertake individual or joint action to implement international legal instruments. Implementation typically refers to the process by which countries establish national laws and policies that reflect treaty obligations. Measures can range from national implementation plans (NIPs) to periodic assessments, compliance provisions and mechanisms, and national reporting. This brief outlines compliance provisions and mechanisms in other Multilateral Environmental Agreements and provides a list of key recommendations to inform the negotiation of a plastics treaty. It argues that negotiators should consider compliance while developing substantive obligations, national plans, and reporting.
Topics covered in the brief include:
- compliance procedures and mechanisms in MEAs;
- national reporting; and
- recommendations for the plastics treaty negotiations.