Prior to its second meeting (Geneva, 12 December 2013), the Committee received information provided by Mr. Bakytzhan Bazarbek, who indicated that he represented an environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) named ECOSOS based in Astana. Mr. Bazarbek expressed concerns regarding difficulties in transboundary water cooperation in the Irtysh River Basin, shared by the China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and the Russian Federation, and also referred to the situation in the Ili River Basin, shared by China and Kazakhstan.
At its second (Geneva, 12 December 2013), third (Bologna, 15 May 2014), fourth (London, 4 December 2014) and fifth (Vienna, 5 and 6 May 2015) meetings, the Committee, without prejudice to any future decision and within the framework of its information-gathering function, and within its competence under paras. 30-31 of annex I to decision VI/1, decided to write to the Parties concerned, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation, seeking their views and requesting information. Accordingly, several communications were sent to this effect. The requests for information became more specific and detailed on each occasion.
The Russian Federation replied to the first four letters from the Committee Chair. The Committee acknowledged and was grateful for the general information provided on the cooperation between the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and China.
At its fifth meeting, given the general content of the replies from the Russian Federation, and not having received a reply from Kazakhstan, the Committee decided to continue to gather information also from other sources. The Committee was of the opinion that Parties were under a good faith obligation to cooperate with its information-gathering procedures. It also observed that cooperation was a key principle of the Convention, as it supported the achievement of the Convention’s object and purpose. However, cooperation per se was not the only objective: the principles of reasonable and equitable use, and of prevention, control and reduction of transboundary impact were no less important.
At its sixth meeting (Geneva, 3 and 4 May 2016), the Committee welcomed the additional information received from the Russian Federation regarding transboundary water cooperation in the Irtysh and Ili River Basins and noted with concern that Kazakhstan had still not replied to the Committee’s letters. It also decided to continue to gather information through its own means, inter alia, by requesting the original submitter and other recognized experts from authoritative NGOs active in the area – namely the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Russian Federation; a member of Irtysh Basin Council; and an expert from the Kazakhstan Agency of Environmental Experts – to supply authoritative information on: water status (quantity, quality and related ecosystems); planned developments and measures taken or planned to be taken of transboundary relevance in terms of their impacts; and any plans or measures of the different riparian countries to prevent, control and reduce transboundary impacts. At the same time, it decided to inform Kazakhstan of that step and to enquire about plans and measures taken by that Party to prevent, control and reduce the transboundary impacts. Only WWF Russian Federation replied to the Committee’s request.
At its seventh meeting (Budapest, 1 and 2 December 2016), and on the basis of the analysis of the information received and gathered itself, the Committee decided that there were no grounds for further action by the Committee under its mandate. The Committee noted that it had experienced difficulty in receiving the information requested from the Parties involved, despite decision VII/1 on general issues of implementation, which stressed that Parties had a good faith obligation to cooperate with the Committee. The difficulties in obtaining information had prevented the Committee from dealing with the matter expeditiously.
The Committee encouraged Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation to continue their bilateral cooperation and their cooperation with China in the pursuit of the objectives of the Convention and international customary water law. The Committee also encouraged Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation to continue their best efforts to establish a basin-wide cooperative framework in the Irtysh River Basin in the pursuit of the Convention and international customary water law.