PREPARATIONS FOURTH MEETING WORKING GROUP IN TALLINN

At the fourth meeting of the Working Group in Tallinn not only the documents which are prepared according to the Work Plan will be discussed, but also the activities for the next period (1999 - 2001). A document with proposals on this subject is included in the Working Group-book (Tab 8).

The meeting-documents have been sent to all members of the Working Group on the 12th of August. The document on standards and guidelines has been sent a week later. We hope that all members have received the documents by now. Please contact us if you haven't got them yet.

REQUEST TO MEMBERS

The chair would like to ask the Working Group members to prepare a short speech (about 2 or 3 minutes) on environmental audits which are being executed by their SAI at the moment or other relevant issues.

SUPPLEMENTS WORKING GROUP BOOK

Supplements to the Working Group Book will be distributed in the hotel. These additional documents will be handed over to you by the hotel personnel or you will find it in your room.

CANADIAN SAI INTERESTED IN SPECIAL TYPES OF ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITS

The Office of the Auditor General is interested to know whether any member countries have completed, or are contemplating, audits/studies in the following areas:

• compliance and enforcement with major environmental legislation;
• finding the right mix of policy tools (ranging from monetary incentives to education to command and control ) to promote environmentally responsible behaviour;
• performance measures for compliance with major environmental legislation;
• the use of risk assessment and risk management techniques to develop a regulatory framework for the control of toxic substances;
• best practices for building accountability frameworks into intra-national environmental partnerships/agreements (i.e. between federal/provincial or state/municipal jurisdictions).

If anyone has completed such an audit or study, or is contemplating such an audit or study, could they contact Wayne Cluskey or Dan Rubenstein at the Office of the Auditor General/ Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable development, 240 Sparks Street, Ottawa, Ontario,Canada, K1A 0G6; fax 613-914-8286, email <rubensdb@oag-bvg.gc.ca>.

SAI OF POLAND AT THE MEETING

On suggestion of the Norwegians the SAI of Poland was invited to attend the fourth meeting of the Working group as observer. This SAI has specific experience with the auditing of international accords. It cooperated for instance with the SAI of the Czech Republic

CHANGE OF REPRESENTATIVES SAI OF MALTA

Saskia Stuiveling welcomes William Peplow, director of audit, as representative of the SAI of Malta in the Working Group on Environmental Auditing. Mr. Peplow replaces John Mallia, who has resigned his post at the Audit Office of Malta. The chair thanks Mr. Mallia for his contribution to the Working Group.

WEATHER IN TALLINN

The forecast for the weather in Tallinn for Thursday, 4 September, is : there will be partly cloudy skies with periods of sunshine. The high temperature will be 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius), and overnight low 51 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius). On Friday 5 September there will also be partly cloudy skies with perods of sunshine. The high temperature will be 59 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius), and the overnight low 46 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius). You can find the weatherforecast on the internet: <http://www.usatoday.com/weather/basemaps/nw260380.htm

Please let us know if the list is incorrect or incomplete.