OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES FOR THE CMS REVIEW MECHANISM 1. Openness and transparency of findings and reports, and the establishment of an online registry for the Review Mechanism.

Additionally, Resolution 12.9 establishes that “communications between the Secretariat and individual Parties on specific implementation matters are generally confidential”,2 “unless the Party concerned waives the confidentiality”.3 The same exception applies to communications between the Party concerned and the Standing Committee (StC) when acting as the Review Body.4 The need for guidance on the. [...] Upon admission of the information, and prior to presenting the matter to the StC, the Secretariat may also request information to afford the concerned Party an opportunity to provide comments or address the matter.14 The Secretariat’s review of File No. [...] This is crucial for conducting a comprehensive assessment of the matter or assisting the Party concerned in addressing the implementation issue.15 As part of the review of the project development at Vjosa-Narta Protected Landscape, the Secretariat participated in a joint fact-finding mission organized by the Bern Convention and the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterb. [...] Within the context of the CMS Review Mechanism, specific guidance is essential to elucidate various aspects of these missions, including expert appointments, terms of reference, funding, the stages of the review process at which fact-finding missions take place, the involvement of stakeholders such as the Parties concerned, and the production of fact-finding mission reports. [...] The expert shall submit a written report of the FFM findings (in one of the official CMS languages) that includes, at a minimum, the following information: i) A summary of the collected information ii) A description of the activities undertaken iii) The relevance of the gathered information for the implementation of Articles III.4, III.5, III.7 and VI.2 of the Convention, as applicable, especially.