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Paragraphs in "Protocol On Water And Health To The Convention On The Protection And Use Of Transboundary Watercourses And International Lakes" coded as SUBS

Label Provision
Art.4 Article 4
Art.4.1 1. The Parties shall take all appropriate measures to prevent, control and reduce water-related disease within a framework of integrated water-management systems aimed at sustainable use of water resources, ambient water quality which does not endanger human health, and protection of water ecosystems.
Art.4.2 2. The Parties shall, in particular, take all appropriate measures for the purpose of ensuring:
Art.4.2.a (a) Adequate supplies of wholesome drinking water which is free from any micro-organisms, parasites and substances which, owing to their numbers or concentration, constitute a potential danger to human health. This shall include the protection of water resources which are used as sources of drinking water, treatment of water and the establishment, improvement and maintenance of collective systems;
Art.4.2.b (b) Adequate sanitation of a standard which sufficiently protects human health and the environment. This shall in particular be done through the establishment, improvement and maintenance of collective systems;
Art.4.2.c (c) Effective protection of water resources used as sources of drinking water, and their related water ecosystems, from pollution from other causes, including agriculture, industry and other discharges and emissions of hazardous substances. This shall aim at the effective reduction and elimination of discharges and emissions of substances judged to be hazardous to human health and water ecosystems;
Art.4.2.d (d) Sufficient safeguards for human health against water-related disease arising from the use of water for recreational purposes, from the use of water for aquaculture, from the water in which shellfish are produced or from which they are harvested, from the use of waste water for irrigation or from the use of sewage sludge in agriculture or aquaculture;
Art.4.2.e (e) Effective systems for monitoring situations likely to result in outbreaks or incidents of water-related disease and for responding to such outbreaks and incidents and to the risk of them.
Art.4.3 3. Subsequent references in this Protocol to "drinking water" and "sanitation" are to drinking water and sanitation that are required to meet the requirements of paragraph 2 of this article.
Art.4.4 4. The Parties shall base all such measures upon an assessment of any proposed measure in respect of all its implications, including the benefits, disadvantages and costs, for:
Art.4.4.a (a) Human health;
Art.4.4.b (b) Water resources; and
Art.4.4.c (c) Sustainable development, which takes account of the differing new impacts of any proposed measure on the different environmental mediums.
Art.4.5 5. The Parties shall take all appropriate action to create legal, administrative and economic frameworks which are stable and enabling and within which the public, private and voluntary sectors can each make its contribution to improving water management for the purpose of preventing, controlling and reducing water-related disease.
Art.4.6 6. The Parties shall require public authorities which are considering taking action, or approving the taking by others of action, that may have a significant impact on the environment of any waters within the scope of this Protocol to take due account of any potential impact of that action on public health.
Art.4.7 7. Where a Party is a Party to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context, compliance by public authorities of that Party with the requirements of that Convention in relation to a proposed action shall satisfy the requirement under paragraph 6 of this article in respect of that action.
Art.4.8 8. The provisions of this Protocol shall not affect the rights of Parties to maintain, adopt or implement more stringent measures than those set down in this Protocol.
Art.4.9 9. The provisions of this Protocol shall not affect the rights and obligations of any Party to this Protocol deriving from the Convention or any other existing international agreement, except where the requirements under this Protocol are more stringent than the corresponding requirements under the Convention or that other existing international agreement.
Art.5 Article 5
Art.5.1x In taking measures to implement this Protocol, the Parties shall be guided in particular by the following principles and approaches:
Art.5.1x.a (a) The precautionary principle, by virtue of which action to prevent, control or reduce water-related disease shall not be postponed on the ground that scientific research has not fully proved a causal link between the factor at which such action is aimed, on the one hand, and the potential contribution of that factor to the prevalence of water-related disease and/ or transboundary impacts, on the other hand;
Art.5.1x.b (b) The polluter-pays principle, by virtue of which costs of pollution prevention, control and reduction shall be borne by the polluter;
Art.5.1x.c (c) States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental and developmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction;
Art.5.1x.d (d) Water resources shall be managed so that the needs of the present generation are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs;
Art.5.1x.e (e) Preventive action should be taken to avoid outbreaks and incidents of water-related disease and to protect water resources used as sources of drinking water because such action addresses the harm more efficiently and can be more cost-effective than remedial action;
Art.5.1x.f (f) Action to manage water resources should be taken at the lowest appropriate administrative level;
Art.5.1x.g (g) Water has social, economic and environmental values and should therefore be managed so as to realize the most acceptable and sustainable combination of those values;
Art.5.1x.h (h) Efficient use of water should be promoted through economic instruments and awareness-building;
Art.5.1x.i (i) Access to information and public participation in decision-making concerning water and health are needed, inter alia, in order to enhance the quality and the implementation of the decisions, to build public awareness of issues, to give the public the opportunity to express its concerns and to enable public authorities to take due account of such concerns. Such access and participation should be supplemented by appropriate access to judicial and administrative review of relevant decisions;
Art.5.1x.j (j) Water resources should, as far as possible, be managed in an integrated manner on the basis of catchment areas, with the aims of linking social and economic development to the protection of natural ecosystems and of relating water-resource management to regulatory measures concerning other environmental mediums. Such an integrated approach should apply across the whole of a catchment area, whether transboundary or not, including its associated coastal waters, the whole of a groundwater aquifer or the relevant parts of such a catchment area or groundwater aquifer;
Art.5.1x.k (k) Special consideration should be given to the protection of people who are particularly vulnerable to water-related disease;
Art.5.1x.l (l) Equitable access to water, adequate in terms both of quantity and of quality, should be provided for all members of the population, especially those who suffer a disadvantage or social exclusion;
Art.5.1x.m (m) As a counterpart to their rights and entitlements to water under private law and public law, natural and legal persons and institutions, whether in the public sector or the private sector, should contribute to the protection of the water environment and the conservation of water resources; and
Art.5.1x.n (n) In implementing this Protocol, due account should be given to local problems, needs and knowledge.
Art.6 Article 6
Art.6.1 1. In order to achieve the objective of this Protocol, the Parties shall pursue the aims of:
Art.6.1.a (a) Access to drinking water for everyone;
Art.6.1.b (b) Provision of sanitation for everyone within a framework of integrated water-management systems aimed at sustainable use of water resources, ambient water quality which does not endanger human health, and protection of water ecosystems.
Art.6.2 2. For these purposes, the Parties shall each establish and publish national and/ or local targets for the standards and levels of performance that need to be achieved or maintained for a high level of protection against water-related disease. These targets shall be periodically revised. In doing all this, they shall make appropriate practical and/ or other provisions for public participation, within a transparent and fair framework, and shall ensure that due account is taken of the outcome of the public participation. Except where national or local circumstances make them irrelevant for preventing, controlling and reducing water-related disease, the targets shall cover, inter alia:
Art.6.2.a (a) The quality of the drinking water supplied, taking into account the Guidelines for drinking-water quality of the World Health Organization;
Art.6.2.b (b) The reduction of the scale of outbreaks and incidents of water-related disease;
Art.6.2.c (c) The area of territory, or the population sizes or proportions, which should be served by collective systems for the supply of drinking water or where the supply of drinking water by other means should be improved;
Art.6.2.d (d) The area of territory, or the population sizes or proportions, which should be served by collective systems of sanitation or where sanitation by other means should be improved;
Art.6.2.e (e) The levels of performance to be achieved by such collective systems and by such other means of water supply and sanitation respectively;
Art.6.2.f (f) The application of recognized good practice to the management of water supply and sanitation, including the protection of waters used as sources for drinking water;
Art.6.2.g (g) The occurrence of discharges of:
Art.6.2.g.i (i) Untreated waste water; and
Art.6.2.g.ii (ii) Untreated storm water overflows from waste-water collection systems to waters within the scope of this Protocol;
Art.6.2.h (h) The quality of discharges of waste water from waste-water treatment installations to waters within the scope of this Protocol;
Art.6.2.i (i) The disposal or reuse of sewage sludge from collective systems of sanitation or other sanitation installations and the quality of waste water used for irrigation purposes, taking into account the Guidelines for the safe use of waste water and excreta in agriculture and aquaculture of the World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme;
Art.6.2.j (j) The quality of waters which are used as sources for drinking water, which are generally used for bathing or which are used for aquaculture or for the production or harvesting of shellfish;
Art.6.2.k (k) The application of recognized good practice to the management of enclosed waters generally available for bathing;
Art.6.2.l (l) The identification and remediation of particularly contaminated sites which adversely affect waters within the scope of this Protocol or are likely to do so and which thus threaten to give rise to water-related disease;
Art.6.2.m (m) The effectiveness of systems for the management, development, protection and use of water resources, including the application of recognized good practice to the control of pollution from sources of all kinds;
Art.6.2.n (n) The frequency of the publication of information on the quality of the drinking water supplied and of other waters relevant to the targets in this paragraph in the intervals between the publication of information under article 7, paragraph 2.
Art.6.3 3. Within two years of becoming a Party, each Party shall establish and publish targets referred to in paragraph 2 of this article, and target dates for achieving them.
Art.6.4 4. Where a long process of implementation is foreseen for the achievement of a target, intermediate or phased targets shall be set.
Art.6.5 5. In order to promote the achievement of the targets referred to in paragraph 2 of this article, the Parties shall each:
Art.6.5.a (a) Establish national or local arrangements for coordination between their competent authorities;
Art.6.5.b (b) Develop water-management plans in transboundary, national and/ or local contexts, preferably on the basis of catchment areas or groundwater aquifers. In doing so, they shall make appropriate practical and/ or other provisions for public participation, within a transparent and fair framework, and shall ensure that due account is taken of the outcome of the public participation. Such plans may be incorporated in other relevant plans, programmes or documents which are being drawn up for other purposes, provided that they enable the public to see clearly the proposals for achieving the targets referred to in this article and the respective target dates;
Art.6.5.c (c) Establish and maintain a legal and institutional framework for monitoring and enforcing standards for the quality of drinking water;
Art.6.5.d (d) Establish and maintain arrangements, including, where appropriate, legal and institutional arrangements, for monitoring, promoting the achievement of and, where necessary, enforcing the other standards and levels of performance for which targets referred to in paragraph 2 of this article are set.
Art.8 Article 8
Art.8.1 1. The Parties shall each, as appropriate, ensure that:
Art.8.1.a (a) Comprehensive national and/ or local surveillance and early-warning systems are established, improved or maintained which will:
Art.8.1.a.i (i) Identify outbreaks or incidents of water-related disease or significant threats of such outbreaks or incidents, including those resulting from water-pollution incidents or extreme weather events;
Art.8.1.a.ii (ii) Give prompt and clear notification to the relevant public authorities about such outbreaks, incidents or threats;
Art.8.1.a.iii (iii) In the event of any imminent threat to public health from water-related disease, disseminate to members of the public who may be affected all information that is held by a public authority and that could help the public to prevent or mitigate harm;
Art.8.1.a.iv (iv) Make recommendations to the relevant public authorities and, where appropriate, to the public about preventive and remedial actions;
Art.8.1.b (b) Comprehensive national and local contingency plans for responses to such outbreaks, incidents and risks are properly prepared in due time;
Art.8.1.c (c) The relevant public authorities have the necessary capacity to respond to such outbreaks, incidents or risks in accordance with the relevant contingency plan.
Art.8.2 2. Surveillance and early-warning systems, contingency plans and response capacities in relation to water-related disease may be combined with those in relation to other matters.
Art.8.3 3. Within three years of becoming a Party, each Party shall have established the surveillance and early-warning systems, contingency plans and response capacities referred to in paragraph 1 of this article.
Art.9 Article 9
Art.9.1 1. The Parties shall take steps designed to enhance the awareness of all sectors of the public regarding:
Art.9.1.a (a) The importance of, and the relationship between, water management and public health;
Art.9.1.b (b) The rights and entitlements to water and corresponding obligations under private and public law of natural and legal persons and institutions, whether in the public sector or the private sector, as well as their moral obligations to contribute to the protection of the water environment and the conservation of water resources.
Art.9.2 2. The Parties shall promote:
Art.9.2.a (a) Understanding of the public-health aspects of their work by those responsible for water management, water supply and sanitation; and
Art.9.2.b (b) Understanding of the basic principles of water management, water supply and sanitation by those responsible for public health.
Art.9.3 3. The Parties shall encourage the education and training of the professional and technical staff who are needed for managing water resources and for operating systems of water supply and sanitation, and encourage the updating and improvement of their knowledge and skills. This education and training shall include relevant aspects of public health.
Art.9.4 4. The Parties shall encourage:
Art.9.4.a (a) Research into, and development of, cost-effective means and techniques for the prevention, control and reduction of water-related disease;
Art.9.4.b (b) Development of integrated information systems to handle information about long-term trends, current concerns and past problems and successful solutions to them in the field of water and health, and provision of such information to competent authorities.