Sunday, February 21, 2016

Article 20 

1. Any Party may propose amendments to this Protocol. 

2. Amendments to this Protocol shall be adopted at an ordinary session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to this Protocol. The text of any proposed amendment to this Protocol shall be communicated to the Parties by the secretariat at least six months before the meeting at which it is proposed for adoption. The secretariat shall also communicate the text of any proposed amendments to the Parties and signatories to the Convention and, for information, to the Depositary. 

The wording should be different. Amendments can be proposed for vote among the members.

3. The Parties shall make every effort to reach agreement on any proposed amendment to this Protocol by consensus. If all efforts at consensus have been exhausted, and no agreement reached, the amendment shall as a last resort be adopted by a three-fourths majority vote of the Parties present and voting at the meeting. The adopted amendment shall be communicated by the secretariat to the Depositary, who shall circulate it to all Parties for their acceptance. 

The amendment stuff sounds like this really big deal. There are going to be times when countries have particular issues that might need to be addressed. When restoring biotic content there is rarely a study that doesn't run into some kind of surprise. So, if there are amendments that take on unique properties, perhaps an appendex entry is more appropriate unless the unique becomes the common place. Environmental stress may show up in some places before others. Also the return of biotic content may find it an easy way back and take form sooner than expected. These unique discoveries are usually the leading edge of change regardless of it being a good indicator or a bad one.

I would also expect national colleges and/or universities to be involved with such isues as well.
4. Instruments of acceptance in respect of an amendment shall be deposited with the Depositary. An amendment adopted in accordance with paragraph 3 above shall enter into force for those Parties having accepted it on the ninetieth day after the date of receipt by the Depositary of an instrument of acceptance by at least three fourths of the Parties to this Protocol. 

5. The amendment shall enter into force for any other Party on the ninetieth day after the date on which that Party deposits with the Depositary its instrument of acceptance of the said amendment.

A fixed date of record is a method of reliability of the process.