Minor
Low intensity, limited atmospheric impact and no confirmed third-party detection.
Compliance summary
Every human gaseous emission must be registered. There is no minimum age, volume, duration, sound, odour, atmospheric impact or embarrassment threshold.
Failure to hear, smell, remember, notice or personally acknowledge an emission does not remove the reporting obligation.
Section 1
Who must comply
The Global Personal Gaseous Emission Framework applies to all persons physically present within a participating jurisdiction at the time an emission occurs.
Compliance obligations apply regardless of citizenship, residency status, employment status or whether the individual considers the emission to have been significant.
Important
Personal belief that an emission was "too small to count" is not recognised as a statutory exemption.
Section 2
Which emissions must be reported
All of them.
Every human gaseous emission must be registered. There is no minimum threshold for volume, duration, sound, odour, atmospheric impact, social embarrassment or personal significance.
Registration is mandatory whether the emission:
- was audible;
- was silent;
- produced a detectable odour;
- produced no detectable odour;
- occurred in public;
- occurred in private;
- occurred while the emitter was alone;
- was witnessed by another person;
- was noticed by an animal;
- was blamed on an animal;
- was blamed on furniture;
- was blamed on plumbing, ventilation or unexplained structural movement;
- was accidental;
- was deliberate;
- was extremely small;
- was, in the emitter's opinion, “not really worth mentioning”;
- occurred while the emitter was asleep;
- occurred while the emitter was attempting to determine whether the previous emission required registration.
If gaseous material left the body, a registrable event occurred.
Uncertainty about whether an emission was sufficiently significant to register is not recognised by the Registry because significance is irrelevant.
Where an individual is uncertain whether an emission actually occurred, the individual must register the suspected emission as a Provisional Atmospheric Event and subsequently submit an Emission Occurrence Clarification.
Failure to remember an emission does not constitute evidence that the emission did not occur.
IMPORTANT
Registering an emission does not remove the obligation to register the next emission.
Multiple emissions occurring in rapid succession must be registered individually. The Registry does not recognise the informal concepts of “one long fart”, “a cluster” or “the rest of the same one”.
Section 3
Reporting deadline
Standard personal emissions should be entered into the Registry no later than 24 hours after occurrence.
Emission category
Reporting period
Standard private emission
24 hours
Public-place emission
12 hours
Workplace emission
8 hours
Cross-border emission
4 hours
Diplomatic or governmental facility
Immediate
Section 4
Emission classification
Registrants must make a reasonable assessment of the emission category at the time of reporting.
Standard
Clearly identifiable personal emission with normal dispersal characteristics.
Significant
Detectable beyond the immediate personal zone or acknowledged by another person.
Severe
Persistent atmospheric presence, evacuation behaviour or multiple independent witnesses.
Section 5
Emissions in public environments
Additional reporting considerations apply when an emission occurs in a shared or publicly accessible environment.
Examples include:
- public transport;
- shops and shopping centres;
- cinemas and theatres;
- lifts and enclosed stairwells;
- workplaces;
- queues exceeding three persons;
- formal meetings;
- places of worship;
- government buildings.
Enclosed-space rule
Leaving a lift immediately after an emission does not transfer regulatory responsibility to the remaining occupants.
Section 6
Cross-border emissions
Where an emission occurs during international travel, the registrant must identify the jurisdiction in which the emission originated.
Where the precise location cannot reasonably be established, the registrant should select Jurisdiction Uncertain and provide the route details.
Example
You are travelling by train between France and Belgium and an emission occurs while the train is crossing the border.
You must not submit duplicate registrations to both national authorities. Submit one cross-border declaration and allow the Registry to determine regulatory allocation.
Section 7
Evidence and witnesses
Most personal registrations are based on self-declaration and do not require supporting evidence.
Witness information may be requested where:
- the emitter disputes responsibility;
- multiple persons claim that another individual was responsible;
- an enforcement complaint has been submitted;
- the emission resulted in the temporary evacuation of an enclosed area.
Recording devices
Audio recordings alone may establish that an emission occurred but may not conclusively establish the identity of the emitter.
Section 8
Exceptions
There are no personal exemptions from the obligation to register a human gaseous emission.
Medical treatment, emergency situations, authorised scientific research, unconsciousness, sleep, embarrassment and lack of witnesses do not cancel the event.
The following explanations are not recognised exemptions:
- "It was an accident."
- "Nobody heard it."
- "I thought it was the dog."
- "Everyone else was doing it."
- "I was asleep."
- "I opened a window immediately."
- "It was medically necessary."
- "I was under anaesthetic."
- "It happened too quickly to count."
- "There were several in a row and I considered them one event."
- "I was testing whether the first one needed reporting."
No-exemption principle
The Registry regulates occurrence, not dignity, intention, consciousness or convenience.