Following further discussions, which included a general consensus on the need for the Executive Committee to develop a framework within which to move the SME issue forward, as well as to permit an exchange of views on how to do so, a contact group was formed, with the participation of the representatives of Australia, China, Costa Rica, India, Peru, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States of America.
Based on an information paper submitted by Sweden and Malaysia and the recommendations submitted by the contact group, the Executive Committee decided:
(a) That the contact group should meet at the next Executive Committee meeting to continue the discussion. In order to have a fruitful discussion, members of the contact group should come with the following information:
(i) National experience in managing the ODS phase-out by SMEs;
(ii) Problems and challenges in achieving phase-out by SMEs in their country;
(iii) Proposals on national strategies and plans to move ahead on SMEs phase-out;
(b) To set up a pilot programme on SMEs at the next meeting. For that purpose, the Group will present proposals on:
(i) The sector/sub-sectors to be focused on;
(ii) The criteria to be applied;
(c) That the Sweden/Malaysia information paper provided to the contact group be included as part of the documentation for the pilot programme.