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The following reporting format is prepared for the collection of data for the fourth National Report as required under Article 33 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. It consists of a series of questions based on the requirements of the Protocol as well as questions that relate to indicators of the Strategic Plan for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety for the period 2011-2020.

The reporting format has been developed within the context of decision CP-VIII/14, taking into account comments for the improvement of the reporting format received from Parties following the second meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation as well as the recommendations of the Compliance Committee. The reporting format was adopted in decision CP-9/5.

The general principles that have been applied in the development of the fourth National Report are summarized in the annex to these guidelines, which also contains a reference table indicating the changes made to questions in the fourth national report in relation to the third national report, including, as applicable, how the questions relate to indicators in the Strategic Plan for the Protocol.

Responses to these questions will help Parties review the extent to which they are successfully implementing the provisions of the Protocol. The responses will also assist the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (COP-MOP) in its assessment of the overall status of the implementation of the Protocol, including measuring the progress in implementation during its final evaluation of the Strategic Plan for the Protocol.

All questions listed in the report format contribute to measuring progress against the baseline adopted by decision BS-VI/15, paragraph 2. Most questions are in a multiple-choice format requiring only a tick in one or more boxes. Text fields are available as an option to Parties who wish to provide further details on the implementation of the various articles. 

The questions follow the wording of the relevant articles of the Protocol as closely as possible, and the use of terms as per Article 3 of the Protocol.

Some questions are not strictly based on the provisions of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the indicators of the Strategic Plan or the decisions of the COP-MOP, but are, however, included in the reporting format to help in the assessment and review of the Protocol in the context of Article 35. 

To facilitate completion of the national report, the online format allows the user to visualize the answer to the corresponding question in their country’s third national report. Questions that have been revised substantially do not allow this feature.

The Executive Secretary welcomes any comments on the adequacy of the questions, challenges in completing the questions, and any further recommendation on how the reporting format could be improved. Space is provided for such comments at the end of the report.

It is recommended that Parties engage all relevant stakeholders in the preparation of the report in order to ensure a participatory and transparent approach, and the accuracy of the information requested. 

You are encouraged to submit the report electronically through the Biosafety-Clearing House (BCH). If submitting the report in Word format, please also print, sign and submit the first page of the report as a scanned attachment to: secretariat@cbd.int.

The deadline for the submission of the fourth National Report is 1 October 2019. 

Annex