Decision directed to Secretariat
Subject to external resources, the Secretariat shall work with the MIKE and ETIS Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and the MIKE ETIS Subgroup and in consultation with TRAFFIC address the following aspects, among others and where appropriate, in the implementation of priority recommendation 7 on the development of Standard Operating Procedures and methodology documentation of the ETIS Programme:
a) how seizure-out records relating to shipments intercepted upstream (i.e., before a shipment reaches the Party identified as origin, re-export, export, transit or destination) are distinguished from shipments seized after arrival or during transit;
b) how seizure records containing incomplete, uncertain, inconsistent, or potentially falsified routing information are flagged in the analytical process and, where appropriate, subject to adjusted weighting or supported by sensitivity analyses to avoid distortions in categorization outcomes, with a clear statement of the default assumption (e.g., exclusion or reduced weighting) when complete routing data is unavailable;
c) how variations in data quality and levels of reporting among Parties, including the frequency of submissions, completeness of records, and quality of trade-route information are taken into consideration, with the methodology for data weighting and quality adjustment being fully documented and clearly explained;
d) how variables A, B and C under Categorization parameter 1 are combined, how Categorization parameter 1 and Categorization parameter 2 interact in informing the categorization outcome, and how the qualitative descriptions of NIAP Categories A, B and C are operationalized into analytical profiles; with the thresholds or criteria used to distinguish between categories clearly explained, including how these are determined based on the dynamic seizure data, and with clarification on how the Law Enforcement Ratio (parameter 2) functions as an aggravating or mitigating factor based on detection effectiveness rather than penalising successful seizure activities
e) how the role of the country of origin, transit or destination is considered in determining the inclusion of a country in the NIAP categories; and
f) how the Secretariat, in consultation with the MIKE-ETIS TAG, conducts periodic checks on a sample of records submitted by Parties, particularly routing information, to verify the reliability of the ETIS dataset used for categorisation.