A/HRC/31/74 forward on the topic of the questionnaire and responses received. He mentioned the low response rate but he considered that the process was almost finished and invited delegations in preparation of the next meeting of the session to think about proposals on the basis of the interaction with panellists. 27. The representative of Brazil conveyed her appreciation to the Chair-Rapporteur for his leadership and welcomed the organization of enlightening presentations. The representative stated that, on procedural gaps, the presentations that had been made over the previous few days, particularly by members of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, had indicated that the Committee still lacked an official mandate to engage in actions, such as visits to countries and in follow-up to its recommendations, which were key for it to effectively fulfil its functions and fully implement the obligations under the Convention. Other treaty bodies created after the Committee had already established provisions on related issues. Therefore, additional norms could be needed in this area, and further discussion was required. The representative welcomed the idea of an updated report of the Committee on this issue. She added that the issue of racism and sport should be noted in the outcomes to the seventh session. Her delegation favoured the development of a plan of action or guidelines, etc. She concluded by noting that Brazil would be hosting the first regional conference of the International Decade for People of African Descent in Brasilia in December 2015. 28. The representative of South Africa stated that, in her delegation’s view and in the light of the various presentations, there were gaps in the Convention, notably procedural gaps. In future sessions, the Ad Hoc Committee should make progress on elaborating complementary standards to close those gaps. 29. The representative of Pakistan on behalf of OIC thanked the Chair-Rapporteur for arranging to have expert speakers address the Ad Hoc Committee at the session and highlighted that a number of important thematic areas, from sport and racism to national mechanisms, had been discussed so far. From the discussions at the previous six sessions and the current session, in the view of OIC it was quite evident that were substantive and procedural gaps. She agreed with the representatives of Brazil and South Africa that a form of complementary standards was needed. With regard to the position of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on procedural gaps, it had only proposed procedural gaps because its position was that their 35 general comments filled the substantive gaps of the Convention. However, OIC believed that the interpretative analysis of the Committee was insufficient to implement the Convention with respect to dealing with xenophobia, the establishment of national equality mechanisms and the development of national action plans against racial discrimination, all of which posed significant gaps. There was a need therefore to standardize and provide uniformity to those processes. Without an additional protocol articulating universally agreed norms and standards, it would be difficult for States to streamline and develop laws, policies, national action plans and mechanisms and also deal with racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance at the national level. Concerning hate speech and hate crimes, the representative noted the need for complementary standards in the form of an additional protocol and stated that OIC considered it important to commence looking at the elements of such a protocol. The way forward needed to be discussed at length in the coming days and in the coming session by the Committee. 30. The representative of the United States expressed appreciation for the draft document containing a compilation of the Ad Hoc Committee’s considerations of the topic of procedural gaps over the previous six sessions. In his view, it illustrated a lack of consensus on procedural gaps and reflected concerns, including costs and duplication of efforts, as well as the need to fully implement existing standards and procedures. Concerning the issue of procedural gaps, he mentioned the recent treaty body reform 9