Two protocols have so far been developed being the first on co-operation in combating oil spills (entered into force in 1986) and the second one a Protocol on Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (adopted in 1990). The third protocol is under negotiation at the moment and relates to the prevention, reduction, and control of marine pollution from land-based sources and activities (LBS Protocol as it is known). Completion of these negotiations and adoption of the protocol is expected for the second quarter of 1999.

In 1994, the Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP) of UNEP completed an overview of land-based point sources of marine pollution in the WCR which indicated that domestic wastewater was the largest point source contributor by volume to the WCR. It was followed by five industrial categories: oil refineries, sugar refineries, distilleries, food processing, manufacture of beer and other drinks, pulp and paper factories and chemical manufacturing. Though not part of the 1994 study which focused on point sources, urban and agricultural non-point sources of pollution are also recognized as significant contributors to pollution of the WCR.

Based on the above study and its implications to the coastal and marine resources in the region the member countries of the WCR decided to take further action. After several years of negotiations and technical meetings of experts, the Contracting Parties to the Cartagena Convention arrived to a point where a Protocol on Land-Based Sources and Activities has been substantially prepared. Although as a draft considerable consensus exists on many significant provisions and annexes of the Protocol some specific areas still require work. The Draft Protocol, therefore, is still open for negotiation and should not be viewed as accepted by any one government of the Region.

The draft Protocol sets forward general obligations, institutional responsibilities, and procedures for acceptance and ratification in the main body of the Protocol. Specific technical annexes establish priority source categories and activities and contaminants of concern in the Convention Area; factors to be used in determining effluent limitations; and management practices, and specific obligations applicable to specific pollution sources in the region.

The first annex to the Protocol establishes a list of the sources, activities, and contaminants of specific concern for the WCR as a whole. The second annex establishes the process for developing regional source-specific controls. Future annexes will be negotiated to address these priority source categories, activities and contaminants of concern listed in Annex I and, using the factors set forth in Annex II. These future annexes will set regional effluent limitations and best management practices. Such annexes will also contain timetables for achieving the effluent limitations and management practices.

The third and fourth annexes, which are the first of the two source-specific annexes, to be adopted together with the Protocol, establish effluent limitations for domestic sewage and best management practices that are to be incorporated into national plans to control pollution from agricultural non-point sources. The effective implementation of these two annexes will commit the Parties to making significant improvements to the pollution control practices currently used in much of the WCR.

If adopted, this agreement will be the first regional seas agreement where effluent limitations and other obligations are required within a given time frame for specific sources of pollution. Still, the LBS Protocol is only effective if well implemented. Effective implementation of the Protocol, will require the co-operation and co-ordination of entities at the international, regional, national and local levels, the private sector, and donor institutions.

Key challenges for implementing the LBS Protocol include funding to support the identification, development, design, and construction of pollution control technologies and institutional capacity building. The Caribbean Regional Co-ordinating Unit of UNEP, as Secretariat to the Cartagena Convention, along with the Contracting Parties and other relevant organizations is designing and implementing projects to meet these challenges. Pilot projects for capacity building in various WCR countries provide models for replicability in other countries. Technology exchange is to take place through workshops on appropriate technologies and best management practices. In this line the recently held joint IETC-CEP Regional Workshop on Adopt, Apply and Operate Environmentally Sound Technologies for Domestic and Industrial Wastewater Treatment (Jamaica, November1998) is an important effort towards this aim.

The above mentioned IETC-CEP Workshop, although not a part of the LBS Protocol development process it can be considered as one of UNEP's efforts to prevent and control pollution from industrial and domestic sewage considered within the Draft LBS Protocol and the Framework of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities. Implemented by Murdoch University (West Australia) the Workshop gathered national experts, representatives from international and regional agencies and consultants from the Wider Caribbean Region and Canada who exchange information and experiences.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea calls upon Sates to adopt laws and regulations to prevent, reduce, and control, pollution of the marine environment from land-based sources. The Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities (GPA), adopted in Washington in 1995, highlights the need for action to reduce the pollutant load to the seas from land-based sources activities. Both of these instruments emphasize the need to act at the regional level to address this problem.

Regional mechanism like the one in the WCR and others are vital to assist countries in the world to achieve the goals and obligations of these two international agreements.