Background

In decision CP-11/7, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP) invited Parties to submit detailed information on their needs and priorities for further guidance materials on specific topics of risk assessment of living modified organisms, including a rationale following the criteria set out in annex I to decision CP-9/13.

Further, the COP-MOP decided to extend the Open-ended Online Forum on Risk Assessment and Risk Management to support the analysis of further topics of risk assessment in accordance with the criteria set out in annex I to decision CP-9/13. An ad hoc technical expert group was also established and tasked with analyzing the information submitted by Parties and the discussions in the Open-ended Online Forum on Risk Assessment and Risk Management, and on that basis prepare a list of prioritized topics, if any, on which further guidance materials on risk assessment may be needed according to the criteria set out in annex I to decision CP-9/13.

In response to this, the Secretariat convened the Online Forum on Risk Assessment and Risk Management to contribute to collecting further information related to the needs and priorities that were submitted by Parties in response to notification 2025-017. The submissions from Parties have been made available on the Biosafety Clearing-House: https://bch.cbd.int/en/submissions-to-notifications?schema=submission&currentPage=1&notification=2025-017.

A total of 15 topics were identified by Parties as priorities. As such, the online forum ran 5 topics per week according to the schedule below:

The forum was moderated by: Ms. Ana Laura Mello from Uruguay and Ms. Anita Anthonysamy from Malaysia.

A synthesis of the Open-Ended Online Forum on Risk Assessment and Risk Management and the submissions received in response to notification 2025-017 has been made available as an information document:  https://www.cbd.int/documents/CBD/CP/RA/AHTEG/2025/1/INF/1