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About this Forum

Article 18 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety addresses the handling, transport, packaging and identification of living modified organisms. Paragraph 3 of the article requires the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (COP-MOP) to consider the need for and modalities of developing standards with regard to identification, handling, packaging and transport practices, in consultation with other relevant international bodies.

At the fourth meeting of the COP-MOP, the Parties adopted decision BS-IV/10 in which they requested the Executive Secretary to organize an online conference to: (i) identify the relevant standards with regard to handling, transport, packaging and identification of living modified organisms; (ii) identify where gaps exist; and (iii) suggest possible modalities to fill the gaps.

The Executive Secretary was also requested to prepare a summary of the outcome of the conference, reflecting the full range of views expressed, for consideration by the fifth meeting of COP-MOP.

Decision BS-IV/10 also invited Parties, other Governments and relevant international organizations to provide the Executive Secretary with guiding questions for the online conference and the Executive Secretary was invited to finalise the list of questions in consultation with the COP-MOP Bureau.

The Executive Secretary has accordingly prepared this conference on the basis of the guiding questions received. In addition to discussions on the basis of the guiding questions, the conference will also consist of an ‘ask an expert’ component. See the conference schedule for more details. A background document compiling information on existing standards relating to the handling, transport, packaging and identification of living modified organisms is also under preparation and will be available through the documents section of the website.

Register here in order to participate in the Online Forum. Registration is open to all Parties and observers to the Biosafety Protocol.

Contact the Secretariat at standards.forum@cbd.int for any questions about the Online Forum.