Major Sectoral Bodies/Committees
Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control (ACC THPC); develop, implement and monitor operational work programme to support the implementation of the Agreement; and provide advice to COP on management of the ASEAN Haze Fund. The COM meets back-to-back prior to the COP meeting. COP and COM meet at least once a year. The 1st Meeting of COP (COP-1) was held on 11 November 2004 in Ha Noi, Viet Nam adopted the Rules of Procedure for the COP Meeting and prepared the financial rules for the ASEAN Transboundary Haze Pollution Control Fund.
Considering the different circumstances and weather patterns in the southern ASEAN and Mekong regions, sub-regional institutional frameworks have been established to address the fire and haze situations in the respective regions, namely the Sub-regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution (MSC), comprising Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand; and the Sub-regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution in the Mekong Sub-region (MSC Mekong), comprising Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam. Both Ministerial Steering Committees are supported by a technical working group (TWG and TWG Mekong). Regular media release from these meetings serves to communicate the ASEAN collective response and mutual support in the prevention and mitigation of land and/or forest fires and haze to the people of ASEAN and the broader global community.
The ASEAN Task Force on Peatlands (ATFP) was established in September 2013 to assist the Committee under the Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (COM) in monitoring and supporting the implementation of the ASEAN Peatland Management Strategy (APMS 2006-2020). The main role of the ATFP is to realise the objectives of the APMS through oversight of the design and implementation as well as monitoring of the ASEAN Programme on Sustainable Management of Peatland Ecosystems (APSMPE 2014-2020) and other relevant programs/projects and facilitate cooperation with relevant partners, and to report the progress of the implementation of the APMS to COM. ASEAN in collaboration with various partners and stakeholders are implementing several ASEAN Haze and Peatlands Programmes, namely, the ASEAN-EU Sustainable Use of Peatlands and Haze Mitigation in ASEAN; ASEAN-IFAD Measurable Action for Haze-Free Sustainable Land Management in Southeast Asia; and the GEF-6 Project on Sustainable Management of Peatland Ecosystems in Mekong Countries.
Figure 1. Institutional Framework of the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution
Under the Agreement, the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control (ACC THPC) was established to facilitate cooperation and coordination among the Parties in managing the impact of land and/or forest fires in particular haze pollution arising from such fires.
A Standard Operating Procedure for Monitoring, Assessment and Joint Emergency Response was developed to outline the procedure for regular communication of data between the ACC THPC and National Monitoring Centres (NMCs) / National Focal Points (NFPs), and to coordinate requests and offers of assistance as well as to handle the reporting of joint mobilization of resources. Guided by the SOP, currently the Interim ACC THPC is performed by the ASEAN Secretariat for coordination of joint emergency response, donor funding and assistance, development of the SOP, and development and maintenance of database; and ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) for monitoring and assessment of land and forest fires and the resulting smoke haze.
The ASEAN Transboundary Haze Pollution Control Fund (Haze Fund) was established in 2007 to implement the AATHP. The ASEAN Member States have agreed that each country as Party to the AATHP will contribute to the Fund to achieve an initial seed fund to support relevant activities to implement the AATHP and for emergency uses.
