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meeting this past September, and is expected to issue its meeting 

 report and a technical document (containing a bibliography of 

 pertinent reports and studies) by the end of 1983. At the Eighth 

 Consultative Meeting, scheduled for next February, final plans 

 will be drawn up for the intersessional meeting of scientific 

 experts that will be held later in 1984 under the auspices of the 

 London Dumping Convention. The results of that intersessional 

 meeting will then be forwarded to the Ninth Consultative Meeting 

 (February 1985), at which time the Parties will take whatever 

 further action is deemed appropriate. 



The Parties to the Convention and observers attending the 

 Eighth Consultative Meeting will devote significant attention to 

 the structure, format and other terms of reference for the 

 subsequent intersessional scientific experts meeting. In this 

 regard, we believe that the mechanism for the intersessional 

 meeting has been correctly placed "[u]nder the auspices of the 

 Consultative Meeting of the Contracting Parties," with expert 

 participants drawn from "Contracting Parties, international and 

 inter-governmental organizations and non-governmental 

 organizations." Mechanism for the Preparation of an Expert 

 Meeting. . . , LDC 7/12, Annex 6. Such an approach provides much 

 greater assurance that diverse viewpoints will be reflected in 

 any findings and recommendations prepared by that meeting. 



We also believe that the terms of reference for that 

 intersessional meeting should address the "burden of proof" 

 concept associated with such a risk review. Traditionally, those 

 who engage in (or propose) activities which risk harm to the 



