BALTIC SEAENVIRONMENT PROCEEDINGS No. 59 - Helcom

HELCOM SEMINAR FOR EXPERTS FROM ESTONIA, LATVIA, LITHUANIA AND
RUSSIA ON IMPLEMENTATION OF HELCOM ARRANGEMENTS, OTHER
INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS AND RELATED MATTERS
Riga, Latvia 30 August - 3 September 1993
Introduction to the work of EC and its subsidiary bodies,
Environment Committee in general
Dr. Niels Peter Riihl
Chairman of the Environment Committee
Dr. Eeva-Liisa Poutanen
Environment Secretary of the Helsinki Commission
Tasks of the Environment Committee
In 1990 the tasks of the Scientific-Technological Committee (STC) were divided between the
Environment Committee (EC) and the Technological Committee (TC). The duties of EC are
based on the Articles 5, 6, 9, 10 and 16 of the 1974 Convention. In general this means that
EC is responsible for collecting and reviewing scientific and environmental data and
knowledge pertinent to the goals of the Convention, for elaborating and periodically reviewing
cooperative monitoring programmes for marine environment, for assessing the state of the
marine environment of the Baltic Sea, of airborne pollution depositions and estimations of the
levels of relevant radionuclides in the marine environment as well as estimations of the
amounts of discharges of radionuclides.
In order to be able to cover the multi-disciplinary duties of EC the tasks have been divided
between different expert groups. After division of STC the Group of Experts on Airborne
Pollution of the Baltic Sea Area (EC EGAP), the Group of Experts on Monitoring of
Radioactive Substances in the Baltic Sea (EC MORS) and the Microbiological Working Group
continued their work under EC. At the first meeting of EC the priority tasks were identified
for the near future and therefore, some additional ad hoc expert groups were established in
1990. These groups were: ad hoc Working Group on Coastal Assessment, ad hoc Working
Group on the Baltic Sea Sediment Baseline Study, ad hoc Working Group on Chemical
Quality Assurance and ad hoc Working Group on Dredged Spoils. The number of groups was
extended in 1991 by establishing ad hoc Working Group on Biological Quality Assurance,
Phytoplankton Expert Group and ad hoc Working Group on Coastal Monitoring of the Baltic
Sea and in 1992 by establishing Working Group on Nature Conservation and Steering Group
for the Coordination of the Third Periodic Assessment.
As can be seen most of the duties given to EC are related to joint monitoring and assessment
activities and they form an important part of the cooperation among the Baltic Sea States. The
terms of reference of EC as adopted by HELCOM 11 in 1990 are attached to this
presentation.
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