Subsidiary Group on Management Plans (SGMP)

Background

Since its first meeting in 1998, the CEP has discussed the need for effective and efficient procedures for reviewing new and revised Management Plans for Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs) and Antarctic Specially Managed Areas (ASMAs). In 2008, ATCM XXXI agreed to establish the Subsidiary Group on Management Plans (SGMP) in accordance with Rule 10 of the CEP Rules of Procedure. The SGMP provides practical advice on draft management plans referred by the CEP for intersessional review, in clarity, consistency and effectiveness etc., and on improving management plans and the process for their intersessional review.

SGMP Terms of Reference

The original four Terms of Reference for the SGMP were defined in Appendix 3 of the CEP XI (2008) report. Following a review of the effectiveness of the SGMP at CEP XIII (2010), a fifth Term of Reference was added. In 2022, an additional sixth Term of Reference was introduced to reflect a new regular task of pre-meeting review of Management Plans. The current Terms of Reference are held in Appendix 4 to the CEP XXIV report:

1) Examine any draft new or revised Management Plan recommended by the Committee for intersessional review to consider, in consultation with relevant experts if appropriate: 

• whether it is consistent with the provisions of Annex V to the Protocol, particularly Articles 3, 4 and 5, and with relevant CEP guidelines;
• its content, clarity, consistency and likely effectiveness;
• whether it clearly states the primary reason for designation; and
• whether it clearly states how the proposed Area complements the Antarctic protected areas system as a whole.

 2) Advise proponents of suggested amendments to the draft Management Plan to address issues in relation to 1) above. 

 3) Submit a Working Paper to the CEP with recommendations for the adoption or otherwise of each new or revised draft Management Plan, identifying where the Plan reflects comments received by Members, and where they have not been, the reasons for not doing so. The Working Paper is to include all revised Management Plans and the information required by the ATCM’s Legal and Institutional Working Group. 

 4) Operate a pre-meeting subforum on the review of all revised Management Plans with minor changes, irrespective of whether or not they have been submitted to the SGMP, and provide a summary of the recommendations arising from the pre-meeting review for consideration by the CEP during the discussion of revised management plans. 

 5) Provide advice to the CEP as necessary for the purpose of improving Management Plans and the process for their intersessional review. 

 6) Develop and suggest procedures that would assist in achieving a long-term goal aiming at ensuring that all ASPA and ASMA management plans contain adequate content, and are clear, consistent and likely to be effective.

SGMP Operating Mechanisms

Under Rule 22 of the CEP Rules of Procedure, English, French, Russian and Spanish shall be the official languages of subsidiary bodies. There is an agreement to conduct the work of the SGMP in English and to translate key documents into the official languages. The Subsidiary Group undertakes its intersessional work via the CEP Forum and produces an annual report to the CEP.