Common formats are standard forms, made available in the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) in MS Word format for download, to assist users in gathering and organizing information prior to online submission. They are offline copies of the online submission forms and are available through the Submit page in all six UN languages. Common format are clearly visible on the Dashboard and can be also found on all the pages of the online “Submission form”. For easy access, they are also listed below.

It is preferable for BCH information to be submitted online through the Submit page. However, users with limited Internet access may complete common formats and submit them, duly signed, to the Secretariat by email or fax.

There is no offline common format for the Country Profile for Biosafety Clearing-House (BCP) record type.

Offline common formats are available in MS Word format and can be downloaded using the links below:

National records

• National Focal Point (NFP): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh 
• Competent National Authority (CNA): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• Supplementary Protocol Competent Authority (SPCA): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• Biosafety Law, Regulation, Guidelines and Agreements (LAW): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• Country's Decision or any other Communication (DEC): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• Risk Assessment generated by a regulatory process (RA): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• National Biosafety Website or Database (NDB): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• Fourth National Report on the Implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (NR4): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• Third National Report on the Implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (NR3): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• Second National Report on the Implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (NR2): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• First National Report on the Implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (NR1): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• Interim National Report on the Implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (NRI): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• Biosafety Expert (EXP): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• Country Profile for Biosafety Clearing-House (BCP): N/A

   Contact (CON): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh

Reference records

• Biosafety Virtual Library Resource (VLR): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• Biosafety Organization (ORG): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• Laboratory for detection and identification of LMOs (LAB): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• Living Modified Organism (LMO): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• Genetic element (GENE): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• Organism (ORGA): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• Risk assessment generated by an independent or non-regulatory process (IRA): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• Capacity Development Initiative (CDI): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh
• BCH News (BCHN): ar | en | es | fr | ru | zh

Important Note

Information on the National Focal Points is the only type of national information that cannot be directly published in the BCH by Parties or non-Parties. The nomination of NFPs can be done by completing the offline common formats, available in MS Word in the 6 UN languages. An offline common format needs to be completed, duly signed by the respective authority and sent to the Secretariat as a scanned attachment by e-mail to bch@cbd.int, or it can be sent by post or fax.