II. SUBMISSION OF REPORTS BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 19 OF THE CONVENTION 23. During the period covered by the present report, 11 reports from States parties under article 19 of the Convention were submitted to the Secretary-General. An initial report was submitted by the Syrian Arab Republic. Second periodic reports were submitted by Albania, Jordan and Yemen. Third periodic reports were submitted by Liechtenstein and Slovenia. Fourth periodic reports were submitted by Cameroon and Morocco. A combined fourth and fifth periodic report was submitted by Austria. A combined fifth and sixth periodic report was submitted by Switzerland and a combined fourth, fifth and sixth periodic report was submitted by France. 24. As of 15 May 2009, the Committee had received a total of 221 reports. 25. As at 15 May 2009, there were 210 overdue reports (see annex XI). A. Invitation to submit periodic reports 26. At its forty-first session, the Committee decided to invite States parties, in the last paragraph of the concluding observations, to submit their next periodic reports within a four-year period from the adoption of the concluding observations, and to indicate the due date of the next report in the same paragraph. It also decided not to request consolidated reports when inviting States parties to submit their next periodic report. B. Optional reporting procedure 27. Considering the positive feedback received from States and their acceptance of the new optional reporting procedure, the Committee decided at its forty-second session to continue, on a regular basis, with this procedure, adopted in May 2007 at its thirty-eighth session. This procedure consists in the preparation and adoption of lists of issues to be transmitted to States parties prior to the submission of their periodic report. In this regard, the Committee: (a) Adopted lists of issues for States parties whose reports are due in 2010 (Brazil, Finland, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mauritius, Mexico, Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia). This adoption was done in plenary, following the Committee’s decision to adopt all its lists of issues in plenary. These lists of issues will be transmitted to the respective States parties with a request that replies be submitted by September 2010, should the State party wish to avail itself of the new procedure. In that respect, the Committee will also request that it be informed by these nine States parties as to their intention of availing themselves of the new procedure by 31 July 2009. This information will allow the Committee to plan its meeting requirements to ensure the timely consideration of reports; (b) Decided that it will prepare, adopt and transmit lists of issues for States parties whose reports are due in 2011, which are Bahrain, Benin, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Namibia, the Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Ukraine, United States of America and Uzbekistan. 6