Dear all
This is a rather broad comment on the issues raised, with all due respect to views expressed by all colleagues.

1. It is now evident, from the scientific review as well as from many interventions, that some concepts in the roadmap and additional guidance materials need to be further clarified in order to be more helpful for those that have no much experience with conducting risk assessment. On this issue I believe a ‘user terms’ section would be quite helpful.

2. Concerning the practicability of the guidance documents, I would like to emphasize the fact that while we were drafting the roadmap as well as the guidance documents we aimed at a holistic approach that is applicable to any of the possible cases to assess in order to give countries the opportunity to make their own decisions according their own specific reality.

3. Risk assessment is a structured process that analyze, make use data and information derived from scientific processes, and presents it in a way that focuses on the concept of risk aiming to reach enlightened decisions to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity taking into account the human health.

4. It is true that risk assessment should be conducted in a reproducible and predictable way but at the same time we should recognize the uncertainty which characterizes performance of biological entities in a holistic ecosystem rather than in a managed one as is the case in agronomic practice.

5. Although ‘Codex alimentarius’ deals with risk assessment, it is mainly concerned with food and feed. Under the CBD, we are looking from environmental point of view and thus in a different context.

6. I believe that some issues mentioned in the roadmap need to be more highlighted and emphasized  and this applies to the following:
  a. Socio-economics: which I believe should be mentioned in the overarching issues, problem formulation as well as in step 1 and 2. It is true that the protection goals touch upon this issue but some may think that it needs to be mentioned more explicitly.
  b.The issue of inseparability of the risk assessment itself and all the other issues relevant to decision making because most of those issue should be considered not only in the decision making process but also inside the scope, context, problem formulation and many other relevant steps in risk assessment.
  c.Co-existence
  d.The issue of identity preservation
and I am glad that in the following discussions some of those issues were brought again

7. It seems also that there is a growing need to elaborate more on the issue of “taking also into account the human health” and how that can that be addressed in accordance with the Protocol.