HELCOM RECOMMENDATION 9/7

Adopted 17 February 1988, having regard to Article 13, Paragraph b) of the Helsinki Convention

RECOMMENDATION CONCERNING THE GUIDELINES FOR THE BALTIC MONITORING PROGRAMME

THE COMMISSION,

BEARING IN MIND the provisions of Articles 4 and 16 of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1974, (Helsinki Convention), concerning the application of the Convention and scientific and technological cooperation,

NOTING the concern on the state of the Baltic Sea, due to discharges of pollutants from various sources, especially from land-based sources, in spite of comprehensive measures taken by the Contracting Parties to reduce the discharges,

RECALLING the previous decisions to use a joint programme in monitoring,

BEARING IN MIND the provisions included in Article 4 of the Convention, in which the Contracting Parties undertake to ensure that the purposes of the Convention will be obtained also in internal waters,

BEING MINDFUL of the need of reliable physical, chemical and biological data,

RECALLING the decision made by the Commission on preparing of revised guidelines for the Baltic monitoring 1989-1993,

RECOMMENDS that the Governments of the Contracting Parties to the Helsinki Convention:

a)         should apply the Guidelines for the Third Stage of the Baltic Monitoring Programme from 1989 to 1993 as adopted by the Ninth Meeting of the Commission and to be published as technically edited in 1988;

b)         should apply the Guidelines, whenever possible, also for the monitoring of the internal waters; and

c)         should submit their data, as specified in the Guidelines, for the data bases of the Commission.