6. Formal consideration of the report: constructive dialogue between the treaty body and the State party All treaty bodies have developed the practice, pioneered by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, of inviting State parties to send a delegation to attend the session at which the committee will consider their report in order to allow them to respond to members’ questions and provide additional information on their efforts to implement the provisions of the relevant treaty. This procedure is not adversarial and the committee does not pass judgement on the State party. Rather, the aim is to engage in a constructive dialogue in order to assist the State in its efforts to implement the treaty as fully and effectively as possible. The notion of constructive dialogue reflects the fact that the treaty bodies are not judicial bodies, but were created to monitor the implementation of the treaties and provide encouragement and advice to States. If a State party does not send a delegation, a committee may nevertheless proceed with the consideration of that State party’s report. 7.  Concluding observations and recommendations The examination of a report culminates in the adoption of “concluding observations” intended to give the reporting State practical advice and encouragement on further steps to implement the rights contained in the treaty. In its concluding observations, a treaty bodies will acknowledge the positive steps taken by the State, but also identify areas of concern, where more needs to be done to give full effect to the treaty’s provisions. The treaty bodies seek to make their recommendations as concrete and practicable as possible. States are required to publicize the concluding observations within the country so as to inform public debate on how to move forward. 8. Implementation of concluding observations and submission of the next periodic report A committee’s adoption of its concluding observations brings the formal consideration of a report to a close; but the process does not end there. The implementation of the rights contained in the treaties requires continuous effort on the part of States. After the submission of their initial reports, States are required to submit further reports to the treaty bodies at regular intervals. These are referred to as “periodic reports”. Periodic reports are normally not as long as the more comprehensive initial report, but must contain all information necessary for a committee to continue its work of monitoring the ongoing implementation of a treaty in the country concerned. An important element of any periodic report will be reporting back to the committee on concrete measures taken by a State party to implement the treaty body’s 28