Capacity-building (Roster of experts)

The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety,

Recalling its decisions BS-I/4 and decision BS-II/4 on the roster of experts on biosafety,

Taking note of the report on the status and use of the roster of experts and of the pilot phase of the Voluntary Trust Fund for the Roster of Experts (UNEP/CBD/BS/COP MOP/3/4/Add.2),

Recognizing the need to strengthen the roster of experts ,

Understanding that it is the right of Parties and Governments to nominate their experts to the roster,

Welcoming the initiatives taken by the Executive Secretary to promote awareness about the roster of experts and to publicize the available funding from the pilot phase of the Voluntary Fund for the Roster of Experts,

1. Requests the Liaison Group on Capacity-Building for Biosafety to develop, for consideration at the fourth meeting of the Parties to the Protocol, draft criteria and minimum requirements (including minimum qualifications or experience), for experts to be included in the roster, in order to assist countries in making their nominations to the roster and in re-assessing the nominations already made;

2. Requests also the Liaison Group on Capacity-Building for Biosafety to explore the possibility of establishing a quality control mechanism, and if feasible, propose modalities of such mechanism for consideration at the fourth meeting of the Parties to the Protocol, taking into account the suggestions made during the internal review of the roster;

3. Invites Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations to submit to the Secretariat, no later six months prior to its fourth meeting, views and suggestions on the criteria and minimum requirements for experts to be nominated to the roster as well as views on a possible a quality control mechanism for the roster;

4. Reiterates the call to Parties and Governments to oblige the experts they nominate to the roster to provide sufficient details regarding their expertise, including: academic and professional qualifications, specific competencies, practical experiences and publications relevant to biosafety;

5. Encourages Parties and other Governments to be more rigorous in their process of selecting and screening experts for nomination to the roster;

6. Urges national focal points to create user accounts for the experts nominated to the roster or authorize the Secretariat to create accounts for all experts in the roster and to update the records on the basis of the information submitted by experts that unable to do it themselves online;

7. Invites eligible Parties to make use of the biosafety roster of experts, and calls upon donors to make financial contributions to the appropriate fund under the Protocol in order to cover the cost of using experts from the roster;

8. Invites Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations that identify and use experts from the roster directly through Biosafety Clearing-House without going through the Secretariat to provide to the Secretariat evaluation reports of the completed assignments by the experts, including the quality of the advice and other support provided, in order to facilitate the overall assessment of the utility and effectiveness of the roster;

9. Invites also capacity-building initiatives, such as the projects funded by the Global Environment Facility, to promote awareness of the roster, particularly in countries participating in those initiatives;

10. Further invites donor countries and relevant organizations to make voluntary contributions to assist developing country Parties, in particular the least developed and the small island developing States among them, and Parties with economies in transition to pay for the use of experts selected from the roster.

11. Requests the Executive Secretary to prepare, on the basis of the submissions referred to in paragraph 3 above, a synthesis report for consideration by the Liaison Group on Capacity-Building for Biosafety.