The major legal instrument of the CEP, the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (Cartagena Convention), was adopted at the Second Intergovernmental Meeting, convened at Cartagena de Indias in 1983. The Cartagena Convention provides the framework for the development of its current protocols on Oil Spills, Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife and Land-based Sources of Marine Pollution.

The implementation of the CEP is supported mainly by the Caribbean Trust Fund, established by the participating States and Territories. Their active participation is ensured through regular Intergovernmental Meetings (IGM), Contracting Parties (COP) meetings and a Monitoring Committee (MONCOM) formed by representatives from nine states and territories.

The IGM convenes every two years and is held jointly with the meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Cartagena Convention. At these meetings participating Governments determine the content of the workplan and budget of the CEP, review its progress and chart a course for the future.

In the interim period between Intergovernmental Meetings there is a nine-nation Monitoring Comittee (MONCOM), which jointly with the Bureau of Contracting Parties (Bureau) to the Cartagena Convention is responsible for supervising the development of the CEP and providing policy direction.

The Bureau of Contracting Parties to the Cartagena Convention and Monitoring Committee for the Action Plan of the Caribbean Environment Programme are elected each biennium from among the Contracting Parties to the Convention and CEP Member Governments attending the IGM, respectively. The Chairperson of the two groups is one and the same.

The Bureau and MONCOM meet jointly on the years between the Intergovernmental Meetings of the CEP to supervise the progress of the workplan of the CEP and oversee financial arrangements as necessary. In addition, the Bureau and MONCOM ensure that continuous contact of a technical nature are maintained among the experts and institutions involved. The Bureau and the MONCOM also help to prepare the agenda for the IGMs, review project requests and provide operational and policy guidance to the Secretariat for the implementation of the Action PLan and the Cartagena Convention.

The members of the Bureau for the 2004-2005 biennium are:

Chairperson: Venezuela
First Vice-chairperson : Mexico
Second Vice-chairperson : Cuba
Third Vice-chairperson : Belize
Rapporteur : United States of America

The President of the Bureau shall also serve as Chairman of the Monitoring Committee.

The members of the MONCOM for the 2004-2005 biennium are:

Venezuela (chairperson), Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Dominican Republic, France, Montserrat, Saint Lucia and United States of America

The members of the Bureau for the 2002-2003 biennium are:

Chairperson: Panama
First Vice-chairperson : Saint Lucia
Second Vice-chairperson : France
Third Vice-chairperson : Cuba
Rapporteur : United Kingdom

The President of the Bureau shall also serve as Chairman of the Monitoring Committee.

The members of the MONCOM for the 2002-2003 biennium are:

Panama (chairperson), Colombia, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States of America, and Venezuela.