In its decision BS-I/3, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety adopted the modalities of operation of the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) and mandated the Secretariat to seek assistance from an informal advisory committee with a particular focus on providing guidance with respect to resolution of technical issues associated with the ongoing development of the BCH.

Pursuant to decision BS-I/3, the members of the BCH-IAC are reconstituted and selected by the Executive Secretary every inter-sessional period and for each meeting of the committee, depending on the technical issues under consideration. Below is the composition of the current BCH-IAC, which was determined by the Secretariat, taking into account the members’ demonstrated experience with the BCH, while ensuring regional and gender balance.

The twelfth meeting of the BCH-IAC will be held face-to-face at the office of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, Canada, from 15 to 16 May 2023. 

Information about all previous BCH-IAC meetings is available in this article.