A/68/44 II. Submission of reports by States parties under article 19 of the Convention 38. During the period covered by the present report, 17 reports from States parties under article 19 of the Convention were submitted to the Secretary-General. Initial reports were submitted by Andorra, Burkina Faso, Holy See, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Thailand. Second periodic reports were submitted by Kenya and Montenegro. Third periodic reports were submitted by Belgium, Lithuania and Uruguay. A combined third and fourth periodic report was submitted by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. A fourth periodic report was submitted by Cyprus. A combined fourth and fifth periodic report was submitted by Croatia. A combined fifth and sixth periodic report was submitted by Portugal. A sixth periodic report was submitted by Ukraine. A combined sixth and seventh periodic report was submitted by Sweden. 39. As at 31 May 2013, the Committee had received a total of 349 reports and had examined 327; there were 26 States parties with overdue initial reports and 42 States parties with overdue periodic reports (see annex XV). A. Invitation to submit periodic reports 40. Further to its decision taken at its forty-first session,3 the Committee continued, at its forty-ninth and fiftieth 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. 41. In addition, further to its decision taken at its forty-seventh session,4 the Committee continued, at its forty-ninth and fiftieth 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 this 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 42. The Committee welcomes the fact that a high number of States parties have accepted this 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 – LOIPR). This procedure aims at assisting States parties to fulfil their reporting obligations, as it strengthens the cooperation between the Committee and States parties.5 While the Committee understands that the adoption, since 2007, of lists of issues prior to reporting facilitates States parties’ reporting obligations, it nonetheless wants to emphasize that this new procedure of drafting lists of issues prior to reporting has increased the Committee’s workload substantially, as their preparation requires more work than the traditional lists of issues following the submission 3 4 5 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.13-46043