Bonn, 13 December 2019 - The 15^th Meeting of the AEWA Standing Committee took place from 11 to 13 December 2019 in Bristol, United Kingdom at the kind invitation of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The three-day meeting, which took place a year after the Seventh Meeting of the Parties to AEWA (MOP7) held 4-8 December 2018 in South Africa, was an opportunity to take stock of the progress made in implementing the resolutions adopted by the Parties in Durban and to start preparing for MOP8.

The busy agenda included reports from the Secretariat, Depository, regional representatives, Party observers and the AEWA Technical Committee.  Important among these were statements concerning the execution of the budget and the status of arrears, an update from the Hungarian Government on progress made towards the organization of the next Meeting of the Parties, scheduled to take place in Budapest 5-9 October 2021, and an account of developments under the Implementation Review Process (IRP).  The Committee also considered the process of evaluating the implications of moving from a three-year to a four-year cycle for the Meeting of the Parties.  Reactions from some of those attending the meeting indicate that it was really interactive and fruitful.

The Standing Committee was established in accordance with Resolution 2.6 to provide policy and administrative guidance on behalf of the Meeting of the Parties to the Agreement Secretariat between sessions of the MOP.