Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Risk Assessment and Risk Management under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
At its fourth meeting, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (COP-MOP), in its decision
BS-IV/11, established an
Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on Risk Assessment and Risk Management under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The AHTEG was mandated to meet twice prior to the fifth meeting of the Parties, in October 2010, within an interval of not less than ten months, and perform the tasks outlined in the annex to decision
BS-IV/11 in order to achieve the proposed outcomes. The terms of reference of the Group as decided upon by the Parties are available in the annex of the decision.
In the same decision, the Parties to the Protocol also established an
Open-ended Online Expert Forum on Risk Assessment and Risk Management through the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) with the view to identifying major issues related to specific aspects of risk assessment and risk management specified in the terms of reference for the AHTEG. The Parties further requested the Executive Secretary to convene
ad hoc online discussion groups and at least one real-time online conference per region prior to each of the two meetings of the AHTEG.
To implement the various elements of the decision in a systematic manner, the Secretariat, with the approval of the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol, has made the necessary arrangements for a continuous process comprising:
- an open-ended online forum;
- discussion groups on specific topics;
- two series of regional real-time online conferences (one prior to each AHTEG meeting); and
- two meetings of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group.
Participants in the open-ended online expert forum on risk assessment and risk management were nominated by Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations, on the basis of their expertise on risk assessment and risk management of living modified organisms (LMOs), using the criteria and common format adopted by the Parties to the Protocol for the nomination of biosafety experts to the roster of experts. In April 2009, a total of 192 experts had been registered to the forum.
A total of eight
ad hoc online discussion groups on specific topics of risk assessment and risk management, as well as
four regional real-time online conferences (Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia) were organized with the objective of identifying major issues related to the specific aspects of risk assessment and risk management as defined in the terms of reference for the AHTEG.
An analysis of the main outputs of the open-ended online expert forum is available in document
UNEP/CBD/BS/AHTEG-RA&RM/1/2.
Participants to the AHTEG were selected in accordance with the consolidated
modus operandi of the Convention’s Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), taking into consideration geographical distribution and gender, on the basis of their active participation in the open-ended online expert forum, and with the approval of the Bureau of the COP-MOP.
The results of the work of the AHTEG, which will include the outputs from its two meetings and the related work between the two meetings, will be reported to fifth meeting of the Parties, to be held in October 2010. The results will also be made publicly available through the Biosafety Clearing House.
