1.Participation in the Convention shall be a joint responsibility of the Commission and the Member States, in particular as regards technical assistance, the exchange of information and matters relating to dispute settlement, participation in subsidiary bodies and voting.
2.The Commission shall act as a common designated authority for the administrative functions of the Convention with reference to the PIC procedure on behalf of and in close cooperation and consultation with all the designated national authorities of the Member States.
The Commission shall, in particular, be responsible for the following:
(a)the transmission of Union export notifications to Parties and other countries pursuant to Article 8;
(b)the submission to the Secretariat of notifications of relevant final regulatory actions concerning chemicals qualifying for PIC notification pursuant to Article 11;
(c)the transmission of information concerning other final regulatory actions involving chemicals not qualifying for PIC notification in accordance with Article 12;
(d)the receiving of information from the Secretariat more generally.
The Commission shall also provide the Secretariat with Union import responses for chemicals subject to the PIC procedure pursuant to Article 13.
In addition, the Commission shall coordinate the Union input on all technical issues relating to the following:
(a)the Convention;
(b)the preparation of the Conference of the Parties established by Article 18(1) of the Convention;
(c)the Chemical Review Committee established in accordance with Article 18(6) of the Convention (the ‘Chemical Review Committee’);
(d)other subsidiary bodies of the Conference of the Parties.
3.The Commission and the Member States shall take the necessary initiatives to ensure appropriate representation of the Union in the various bodies implementing the Convention.