Introduction

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 Open-ended Online Expert Forum on Risk Assessment and Risk Management through the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH). The COP-MOP also established an Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on Risk Assessment and Risk Management. The Executive Secretary was requested to convene ad hoc online discussion groups, two AHTEG meetings and at least one real-time online conference per region prior to each of the two AHTEG meetings.

To operationalize these requests, the Secretariat is implementing a continuous process comprising the following events: a) the establishment of an open-ended online forum, b) discussion groups on specific topics, c) two series of sub-regional real-time conferences (one series prior to each AHTEG meeting), and d) two AHTEG meetings.

Through the online forum, two modalities of online events will be offered:

1. Discussion Groups; and
2. Real-time Conferences

The outcomes of the Discussion Groups and Real-time Conferences will serve as inputs for the deliberations by the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on Risk Assessment and Risk Management, which will meet twice in the current intersessional period and will report to the MOP5 that will be held in Nagoya, Japan, in October 2010 (for the AHTEG terms of reference , please refer to the annex of decision BS-IV/11.

The AHTEG deliberations will include, among other things, the development of a "roadmap", such as a flowchart, on the necessary steps to conduct a risk assessment in accordance with Annex III of the Protocol, and modalities for the development of guidance documents on specific aspects of risk assessment including particular types of (i) living modified organisms; (ii) introduced traits; and (iii) receiving environments, as well as monitoring of the long-term effects of living modified organisms released into the environment.

The online forum will be publicly accessible through the BCH, but posting will be restricted to pre-registered participants.

For further information on this forum please contact riskassessment.forum@cbd.int.

Go to the main page of the Forum.