On 7 November 2012, the Portfolio Committee considered the above opinion and concurred with the opinion, especially the statement that "it is not possible to predict the actual implications of this article for South Africa at this stage". The Portfolio Committee also understood that once the Convention enters into force, the States Parties to the Convention "will meet to negotiate the rules and procedure which will govern liability and the compensation of damages..." The Portfolio Committee was of the view that matters of liability and the payment of compensation of damages are usually best dealt with in a Court of Law, and not in International Treaties, through a process dealt with in "rules and procedures". However, the Portfolio Committee is also mindful of the fact that an international precedent exists in the environmental arena to provide for such clauses "which will govern liability and the compensation of damages", between States, arising out of the substance of a Treaty.