A/69/44 II. Submission of reports by States parties under article 19 of the Convention 33. During the period covered by the present report, 15 reports from States parties under article 19 of the Convention were submitted to the Secretary-General. An initial report was submitted by the Congo. Second periodic reports were submitted by Romania and Serbia. Third periodic reports were submitted by Kazakhstan, Slovakia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. A combined third to fifth periodic report was submitted by the United States of America. A combined fourth and fifth periodic report was submitted by Australia. Fifth periodic reports were submitted by China, including Hong Kong, China and Macao, China, and by Colombia. Sixth periodic reports were submitted by New Zealand and Spain. A combined sixth and seventh periodic report was submitted by Luxembourg. 34. As at 23 May 2014, the Committee had received a total of 364 reports and had examined 343 (Guinea was examined in the absence of a report); there were 27 States parties with overdue initial reports and 44 States parties with overdue periodic reports (see annex XI on the status of reports). A. Invitation to submit periodic reports 35. Further to its decision taken at its forty-first session,1 the Committee continued, at its fifty-first and fifty-second sessions, 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. 36. In addition, further to its decision taken at its forty-seventh session,2 the Committee continued, at its fifty-first and fifty-second sessions, to invite States parties to accept, within one year from the adoption of their concluding observations, to report under the optional reporting procedure, or, if a State party has already accepted to report under the procedure, to indicate that the Committee will submit to the State party, in due course, a list of issues prior to the submission of its next periodic report. B. Optional reporting procedure/simplified reporting procedure 37. The Committee welcomes the fact that a high number of States parties have accepted the optional reporting procedure, which consists of the preparation and adoption of a list of issues to be transmitted to States parties prior to the submission of a State party’s periodic report (known as the list of issues prior to reporting). The procedure is aimed at assisting States parties to fulfil their reporting obligations, as it strengthens the cooperation between the Committee and States parties.3 While the Committee understands that, since 2007, the adoption of lists of issues prior to reporting has facilitated the States parties’ reporting obligations, it nonetheless wishes to emphasize that the procedure of drafting lists of issues prior to reporting has increased its workload substantially, as their preparation requires 1 2 3 8 Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 44 (A/64/44), para. 26. Ibid., Sixty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 44 (A/67/44), para. 33. Ibid., Sixty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 44 (A/66/44), paras. 28–35. GE.14-12596