1 October 2010: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) convened a joint consultation on the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions with the Basel and Stockholm Regional Centers, from 27 September-1 October in Barcelona, Spain. The consultative meeting was hosted in Barcelona by the Regional Activity Centre for Cleaner Production, a Regional Centre under the Stockholm Convention. The consultation concluded with an agreement to strengthen national coordination for control of international trade in hazardous chemicals and wastes. Specifically, experts agreed to establish a structured exchange of information on implementation at the national level and between the regional centers. The clearing house mechanism under the Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions, currently being expanded in cooperation with the Basel Convention, will serve as a key component in the strategy to strengthen the exchange of information on the control of international trade in chemicals and wastes and enforcement of the three treaties. [Stockholm Convention website]