What has been done on Compliance

Nineteenth meeting of the Compliance Committee

The Compliance Committee held its nineteenth meeting in Montreal from 30 April to 2 May 2024.

The Committee reviewed the consistency of information between the fourth national reports and the Biosafety Clearing-House. The Committee also reviewed compliance by Parties with the reporting obligation, with the obligation to make information available to the Biosafety Clearing-House, and with the obligation to take the necessary measures to implement the obligations under the Protocol. It agreed on several follow-up actions, including to encourage and assist Parties to update relevant records and documents submitted to the BCH, and finalized its recommendations to COP-MOP on these matters.

The Committee considered individual cases of non-compliance by seven Parties that had not submitted their fourth and third national reports. It acknowledged that follow-up with these Parties had proceeded in an incremental manner. The Committee agreed to recommend that the COP-MOP, at its eleventh meeting, caution the seven Parties, unless a report was submitted before the eleventh meeting of the COP-MOP. The Committee requested that its Chair inform the Parties concerned of its recommendation, urging them to submit their fourth national report as soon as possible.

The Committee considered the status of progress and follow-up actions regarding Parties it had requested to prepare a compliance action plan for not having taken any measures to implement the Protocol or for having taken only draft or temporary measures. The Committee engaged in informal online exchanges with four Parties with compliance action plans under active consideration. The Committee agreed on follow-up actions by the Secretariat in relation to these and other Parties that had submitted a compliance action plan and agreed on recommendations to the COP-MOP in this regard. The Committee also agreed on follow-up actions with Parties that had made progress with the adoption of measures or that had not responded to requests by the Committee to prepare a compliance action plan.

The Committee recognized that two Parties had not designated a national focal point for the Cartagena Protocol over a period of several years, despite numerous follow-up communications from the Secretariat and the Chair of the Committee, and requested that its Chair write to the minister overseeing the national focal points for the Convention urging them to designate their national focal points.

Under ‘other matters’, Committee members raised concerns about diverging interpretations of the definition under the Cartagena Protocol of the term “living modified organism” and varying legislative approaches among Parties concerning new developments in biotechnology, including genome editing. The Committee recognized that clarity on the applicability of the definition of the term “living modified organism” in the context of new developments in biotechnology would form the basis for the Committee to carry out its role in reviewing compliance by Parties with their obligations under the Protocol and decided to recommend that the COP-MOP consider the issue further at its eleventh meeting.

The Committee considered and adopted a consolidated report on the work of its two intersessional meetings, including recommendations, for consideration and adoption by the COP-MOP, at its eleventh meeting (to be issued as CBD/CP/MOP/11/2).

For further details, see the report of the meeting in document CBD/CP/CC/19/5.

Eighteenth meeting of the Compliance Committee

The Compliance Committee held its eighteenth meeting in Montreal from 24 to 26 October 2023.

The Committee considered the outcomes of the tenth meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol regarding items relevant to compliance and welcomed the positive consideration of its recommendations by the COP-MOP. In this context, it also considered matters related to the financial mechanism and resources, and the goals and compliance-related indicators in the Implementation Plan for the Protocol and in the Capacity-Building Action Plan for the Cartagena Protocol.

The Committee reviewed general issues of compliance on the basis of information in fourth national reports with a focus on priority areas identified by the meeting of the Parties. In this context, the Committee also reviewed the results of a survey conducted by the Secretariat on national limitations and challenges in fulfilling the obligation (i) to take the necessary legal, administrative and other measures to implement the Protocol, and (ii) to submit a national report in a timely manner, conducted further to decision CP-10/2. It noted the discrepancy between some answers provided in the survey and information provided in the fourth national reports. The Committee underlined the importance of the obligation to designate a national focal point and to keep the Secretariat informed of any changes to the contact information of national focal points. The Committee also identified Parties whose fourth national report was still pending. It agreed on several follow up actions to assist Parties to comply with their obligations and made recommendations for consideration by the COP-MOP, at its eleventh meeting.

The Committee considered individual cases of non-compliance, in particular with regard to the obligation to submit national reports, in accordance with Article 33 of the Protocol, and with the obligation to take the necessary and appropriate legal, administrative and other measures to implement the obligations under the Protocol, in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Protocol. The Committee decided that its Chair would write to those Parties whose third and fourth national reports were still outstanding to urge them to submit a report without further delay, and that if no response was received and no report was submitted, the Chair would write to the ministries of foreign affairs of the Parties concerned, urging them to submit their national reports. The Committee also reviewed the status of compliance action plans currently under consideration by the Committee and, in this regard, welcomed the opportunity for these Parties to obtain technical assistance from UNEP’s ‘Law and Environment Assistance Platform’ (LEAP) under the Montevideo Environmental Law Programme. The Committee decided on follow-up actions. The Committee also decided to invite those Parties whose compliance action plan is under active consideration to an online dialogue with the Committee at its next meeting to obtain information on progress made and challenges with the implementation of the plans of these respective Parties. On the basis of fourth national reports submitted, the Committee identified further Parties that either have not taken any measures to implement the Protocol, or have only taken draft or temporary measures and decided that it would request these Parties to develop a compliance action plan, or provide information, as appropriate.

For further details, see the report of the meeting in document CBD/CP/CC/18/5.

Seventeenth meeting of the Compliance Committee

The Compliance Committee held its seventeenth meeting from 15 to 17 April 2020.

The Committee reviewed compliance by Parties with the obligation to submit their fourth national reports. The Committee expressed concern over the low number of fourth national reports submitted. It considered possible factors that might have affected the submission rate, including the delays eligible Parties faced in accessing funding from the Global Environment Facility for the preparation of the fourth national reports. The Committee decided on follow-up actions with Parties that had not submitted their fourth national report and adopted recommendations for consideration by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties at its tenth meeting (COP-MOP 10).

The Committee also contributed to the fourth assessment and review of the Protocol and the final evaluation of the Strategic Plan. The Committee considered progress reported by Parties towards operational objective 3.1 of the Strategic Plan, taking also into account the experience the Committee had gained in implementing its supportive role of assisting Parties in complying with their obligations under the Protocol. It drew conclusions and requested the Executive Secretary to transmit them to the Subsidiary Body on Implementation, for consideration at its third meeting. It also agreed on a number of recommendations for consideration by COP-MOP 10.

The Committee considered an update on general issues of compliance reviewed at its sixteenth meeting, in particular the compliance of Parties with the obligation to designate national focal points and competent national authorities. It agreed that follow-up with concerned Parties should continue.

The Committee furthermore considered an overview of developments and actions taken since the Committee’s sixteenth meeting regarding individual cases of non-compliance. It welcomed the submission of the fourth national report by a Party it had considered as an individual case of non-compliance for failure to comply with its reporting obligation under Article 33 of the Protocol over multiple reporting cycles. It also reviewed the submission of compliance action plans by Parties in non-compliance with their obligation under Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Protocol, to take the necessary and appropriate legal, administrative and other measures to implement the Protocol. The Committee agreed on a number of follow-up actions with the Parties concerned and decided to prioritize consideration of progress on the matter at its next meeting. It decided on recommendations to the COP-MOP 10 regarding the availability of funding to support identified Parties in implementing compliance action plans.

For further details, see the report of the meeting in document CBD/CP/CC/17/6.

Sixteenth meeting of the Compliance Committee

The Compliance Committee held its sixteenth meeting in Montreal from 29 to 31 May 2019.

The Committee considered the outcomes of the ninth meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol, in particular with regard to its recommendation regarding non-compliance by some Parties with their national reporting obligation. The Committee noted the positive effects of its continuous efforts to support Parties in preparing and submitting their national report, including through the actions taken in respect of Parties that had not submitted national reports over multiple reporting cycles. It decided to follow up with the only Party that had still not submitted any reports.

The Committee also reviewed the completeness of information in the BCH and decided to follow up with Parties directly to promote compliance with their obligation to make available information regarding national contacts and risk assessments. It also agreed on several recommendations to the COP-MOP in this regard.

The Committee considered an update of the compliance by Parties with their obligation under Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Protocol to take the necessary and appropriate legal, administrative and other measures to implement their obligations under the Protocol. It decided to follow-up on the progress of the activities of those Parties that had submitted compliance action plans and to urge those Parties that had not responded to communications to submit an action plan as soon as possible, or inform the Committee of any developments in having taken the necessary measures to implement the Protocol.

Finally, the Committee considered the process for providing input to the fourth assessment and review of the Protocol and final evaluation of the Strategic Plan and discussed issues relating to the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. In this context, it underlined the importance of providing sufficient opportunity to discuss how biosafety could be addressed within the post-2020 framework and ensuring the participation of biosafety experts in relevant consultations.

For further details, see the report of the meeting in document CBD/CP/CC/16/7.

Fifteenth meeting of the Compliance Committee

The Compliance Committee held its fifteenth meeting in Montreal from 8 to 10 May 2018. The Committee reviewed the consistency between information in third national reports and the information provided by Parties to the BCH. It agreed on several follow-up actions to encourage and assist Parties to update relevant records and documents submitted to the BCH.

The Committee also reviewed the status of submission of third national reports on the implementation of the Protocol, which were due in November 2015. It agreed that the Chair of the Committee would send a letter to the foreign ministries of the Parties that had not yet submitted their third national report reminding them of their obligation. Furthermore, the Committee decided to recommend to the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol that it issue a caution to four Parties that had repeatedly not submitted a national report, unless a report is received from the concerned Parties before the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol. This recommendation is in accordance with section VI, paragraph 2 (b) of the Procedures and Mechanisms on Compliance under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

As it had done in previous meetings, the Committee considered compliance by Parties with the obligation to introduce the necessary and appropriate measures to implement the Protocol. It considered what additional actions could be taken to assist Parties that reported not having taken any measures, or only having taken draft or temporary measures for the implementation of the Protocol. The Committee agreed to request the concerned Parties to develop a compliance action plan in accordance with Section VI, paragraph 1(c), of the procedures and mechanisms on compliance, as contained in the annex to decision BS-I/7.

As requested in decision CP-VIII/17, the Committee considered the information that had been submitted to the Biosafety Clearing-House by Parties regarding final decisions taken on the importation of living modified organisms destined for contained use and assessed whether the information was in accordance with Article 6 of the Cartagena Protocol. The Committee agreed on some recommendations in this regard for consideration by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties at its ninth meeting.

Finally, the Committee had an extensive discussion about its possible contribution to the development of the post 2020 framework, and stressed the need for ensuring that biosafety experts are included in the process.

For further details, see the report of the meeting in document CBD/CP/CC/15/5.

Fourteenth meeting of the Compliance Committee

The Compliance Committee held its fourteenth meeting in Montreal from 16 to 18 May 2017. The Committee considered the outcomes of the eighth meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol focusing on items relevant to compliance. It decided that a standing item be included in the agenda for future meetings of the Committee to facilitate consideration of ongoing individual cases of non-compliance.

The Committee reviewed compliance on the basis of third national reports with a focus on priority areas identified by the meeting of the Parties and requested the Secretariat to seek information from Parties facing challenges with particular obligations, including: the introduction of legal, administrative and other measures for the implementation of the Protocol and their monitoring obligations, for consideration at its next meeting. In this context, the Committee reviewed the types of assistance it could offer Parties and updated the “Information note on the role of the Compliance Committee in assisting Parties".

The Committee explored, as requested by COP-MOP in decision CP-VIII/14, the possible reasons for the lower rate of reporting for the current reporting cycle. The Committee welcomed the extended availability of funds provided by the Global Environment Facility for the completion of third national reports, which may assist eligible Parties to submit their third national report. The Committee decided that the Chair would also send follow-up letters to those Parties whose third national report is still outstanding.

For further details, see the report of the meeting in document CBD/CP/CC/14/5.

Thirteenth meeting of the Compliance Committee

The Compliance held its thirteenth meeting in Montreal from 24 to 26 February 2016. The Committee reviewed compliance with the obligation to submit national reports. It considered the rate of submission of third national reports on the implementation of each Party’s obligations under the Protocol and expressed concern about the lower rate of submission of the third national reports in comparison to the previous reporting cycle. It urged Parties that have not yet submitted their third national report to do so as soon as possible. The Committee expressed profound concern about those few Parties that had not submitted an interim, first, second or third national report since they became Parties and agreed that the Chair of the Committee would send a letter to the foreign ministries of the concerned Parties in this regard. Furthermore, the Committee decided to recommend to the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol that it issue a caution to those Parties, as provided for in section VI, paragraph 2 (b) of the Procedures and Mechanisms on Compliance under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, unless a response is received before the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol.

The Committee also carried out an evaluation of the status of implementation of the Protocol in meeting its objectives and provided its input to the third assessment and review of the Protocol and mid-term evaluation of the Strategic Plan of the Protocol. Amongst other things, the Committee urged Parties that have not yet done so to put in place legal, administrative and other measures to implement their obligations under the Protocol, paying particular attention to the importance of putting in place monitoring systems as a prerequisite for effective reporting.

The Committee furthermore reviewed general issues of compliance based on information from the third national reports that had been synthesized by the Secretariat.

Finally, the Committee considered the issue of what constitutes unintentional transboundary movement in contrast with illegal transboundary movement and recommended to the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting to the Parties of the Protocol that it adopt operational definitions of the terms “unintentional transboundary movement” and “illegal transboundary movement”, with a corresponding explanatory note.

For further details, see the report of the meeting in document UNEP/CBD/BS/CC/13/6.

Twelfth meeting of the Compliance Committee

The Compliance Committee held its twelfth meeting in Montreal from 13 to 15 May 2015. The Committee considered the outcomes of the seventh meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol with regard to items relevant to compliance. Members discussed how to raise awareness of the supportive role of the Committee and in that regard, developed a brief information note on the role of the Compliance Committee in assisting Parties. The Committee also reviewed the information available in the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) with a view to verifying whether it is complete and up to date. The Committee further discussed the scope of it’s input into the third assessment and review of the Protocol and the mid-term evaluation of the Strategic Plan and decided to hold its next meeting in conjunction with the meeting of the Liaison Group on Capacity-building in order to achieve consistency in the contributions of the Group and the input of the Committee to be forwarded to the Subsidiary Body on Implementation. For further details, see the report of the meeting in document UNEP/CBD/BS/CC/12/5.

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Eleventh meeting of the Compliance Committee

The Compliance Committee held its eleventh meeting in Montreal from 28 to 30 May 2014. The Committee reviewed a report from the Secretariat on the state of compliance with respect to the cases reviewed at its previous meeting. The Committee also reviewed the responses received from Parties that had been contacted by the Secretariat and the Committee with a view to requesting them to submit information on the challenges they were faced with in putting in place operational biosafety frameworks, and the plans and timelines, as appropriate, that they envisaged for the purpose of taking the necessary measures in this regard. The Committee considered the consistency between the information that each Party had provided through its second national report and the information made available to the BCH by that Party. Finally, the Committee also reviewed the third national reporting format prepared by the Secretariat and made a number of comments and suggestions for improving it. After the meeting, Committee members held an online discussion on an advanced draft of the proposal of a methodology for the third assessment and review of the effectiveness of the Protocol and also agreed on some recommendations to be submitted to the seventh meeting of the Parties. For further details, see the report of the meeting in document UNEP/CBD/BS/CC/11/4.

Tenth meeting of the Compliance Committee

The Compliance Committee held its tenth meeting in Montreal from 29 to 31 May 2013. The Committee considered the outcomes of the sixth meeting of the Parties to the Protocol with regard to items relevant to compliance and the follow up activities undertaken by the Secretariat. It reviewed compliance on the basis of the second national reports, with a focus on the priority issues identified by the sixth meeting of the Parties. It also reviewed general issues of compliance as regards: (i) introducing legal, administrative and other measures necessary for the implementation of the Protocol; (ii) making information available to the Biosafety Clearing-House as required under the various provisions of the Protocol; and (iii) promoting public awareness, education and participation, including using the programme of work adopted by the fifth meeting of the Parties to the Protocol. The Committee agreed to various measures and timelines to follow up with Parties that are still required to comply with their obligations with respect to national reporting and putting in place legal and administrative measures necessary to implement their obligations under the Protocol. For further details, see the report of the meeting in document UNEP/CBD/BS/CC/10/5.

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Ninth meeting of the Compliance Committee

The Compliance Committee held its ninth meeting in Montreal from 30 May to 1 June 2012. The Committee reviewed compliance with the obligation to submit national reports. It considered the rate of submission of second national report on the implementation of each Party’s obligation under the Protocol; the completeness of the reports; and the situation with respect to those few Parties which have not submitted any national report at all since they became Parties. It also reviewed general issues of compliance based on information from the second national reports that has been synthesized by the Secretariat. The Committee prepared and adopted its report and recommendations for submission to the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol. For further details, see the report of the meeting in document UNEP/CBD/BS/CC/9/4.

Eighth meeting of the Compliance Committee

The Compliance Committee held its eighth meeting in Montreal from 5 to7 October 2011. The Committee discussed possible modalities of implementation of the supportive role of the Compliance Committee as modified by decision BS-V/1 and developed an approach and a work plan to guide its functions in the context of this decision. It also agreed to further elaborate, including on a case-by-case basis, and keep under review the appropriate steps that may be needed to effectively address compliance-related issues and difficulties faced by Parties. The Committee further considered the potential need for the exchange of information and informal discussions among members during the intersessional period and noted the availability of a collaborative online portal in the BCH, which is accessible only to members of the Committee. For further details, see the report of the meeting in document UNEP/CBD/BS/CC/8/3.

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Seventh meeting of the Compliance Committee

The seventh meeting of the Compliance Committee under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety took place in Montreal from 8 to 10 September 2010. The Committee held further discussions on those items that it examined at its previous meeting relating to national reporting rates and status of compliance in fulfilling obligations to make information available to the BCH. It also considered the views submitted by Parties on how to improve the supportive role of the Committee. The Committee finalized its recommendations and report for submission to the fifth meeting of the COP-MOP. For details see the report of the meeting in document UNEP/CBD/BS/CC/7/3.

Sixth meeting of the Compliance Committee

The Compliance Committee held its sixth meeting from 4 to 6 November 2009 in Montreal, Canada. At that meeting, the Committee considered issues related to Parties' reporting obligation on the basis of a document on reporting rates under other multilateral environmental agreements. It also considered general issues of compliance with the obligation of Parties to make information available to the Biosafety Clearing-House. The Committee agreed, on a preliminary basis, to a number of points for further consideration and recommendations for possible submission for the fifth meeting of the Parties to the Protocol. The Committee also considered whether it had a mandate to receive and consider a submission made by a non-governmental organization alleging non-compliance of a Party with its obligations under the Protocol. It concluded that it has no mandate to consider the submission because section IV of the compliance procedures adopted in the annex to decision BS-I/7 permits only a Party to trigger the procedures with respect to itself or with respect to another Party. For details see the report of the meeting in document UNEP/CBD/BS/CC/6/4.

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Fifth meeting of the Compliance Committee

The fifth meeting of the Compliance Committee was held from 19 to 21 November 2008 in, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Committee considered a review prepared by the Chairperson of the Committee on the outcomes of the fourth meeting of the COP-MOP regarding compliance (UNEP/CBD/BS/CC/5/INF/2). It reviewed, among other things, the extent to which the recommendations from its two last meetings had been considered and adopted by the Parties to the Protocol at their fourth meeting. The Committee also agreed upon a work plan for its meetings that may be held prior to COP-MOP 5. It further reviewed general issues of compliance based on a revised analysis of the first national reports conducted by the Secretariat three months after COP-MOP 4. The Committee recognized the increase in the number of national reports received by the Secretariat. However, it still expressed its concern on the low reporting rate of Parties to the Protocol and requested the Secretariat to seek information from Parties that had not yet submitted their first national reports on the reasons on why they did not do so and to make that information available at a later stage. For details see the report of the meeting in document UNEP/CBD/BS/CC/5/4.

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Fourth meeting of the Compliance Committee

The fourth meeting of the Compliance Committee took place from 21 to 23 November 2007 in Montreal. The Committee reviewed general issues of compliance on the basis of the information made available by Parties through their first national reports submitted four years after the entry into force of the Protocol. The Committee also refined further its report on experiences of other multilateral environmental agreements regarding measures concerning repeated cases of non-compliance. It decided to submit to the upcoming fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol a report that consolidates the work and recommendations of its third and fourth meetings.

Third meeting of the Compliance Committee

The third meeting of the Compliance Committee took place from 5 to 7 March 2007 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Compliance Committee reviewed information compiled by the Secretariat on experience of other multilateral environmental agreements regarding measures concerning cases of repeated non-compliance. It requested the Secretariat to revise the document in accordance with the comments and submit it to the next meeting of the Committee. The Committee followed up on issues arising from its second meeting including the issue of conflict of interest under rule 11 of the rules of procedure, and reviewing general issues of compliance and possible lessons learned from analyzing the interim national reports. It also considered how the Committee might contribute to the upcoming review process of the effectiveness of the Protocol in general and the procedures and mechanisms on compliance, in particular in the context of Article 35 of the Protocol and decision BS-III/15 of the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol.

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Second meeting of the Compliance Committee

The second meeting of the Compliance Committee took place from 6 to 8 February 2006. The meeting discussed several issues relating to the rules of procedure of its meeting and adopted recommendations for submission to COP-MOP/3.

The meeting also analyzed the interim national reports and identified issues that need due attention in order to ensure a good start in the effective implementation of its requirements and the achievement of its objective. The Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) was another source of information in which the Committee identified some general issues that affect compliance with the requirements of making various types of information available to the BCH.

First Meeting

The first meeting of the Compliance Committee took place from 14 to 16 March 2005. The meeting developed its rules of procedures and submitted them for consideration and approval by the second meeting of the COP-MOP. The Committee also adopted a work plan for the period up to the review of the Compliance Procedures and Mechanisms on Compliance as specified in section VII of the Annex to decision BS-I/7.

The ICCP Process

Prior to the entry into force of the Protocol, an ad interim governing body, the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (ICCP), was established by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (decision EM-I/3).

At its first meeting, the ICCP considered development of compliance procedures and mechanisms under the Protocol. It reviewed several compliance regimes in multilateral environmental agreements and other ongoing initiatives (UNEP/CBD/ICCP/1/7).

At its second meeting, in its recommendation 2/11 the ICCP considered a report from an expert group on compliance and a text of the draft procedures and mechanisms on compliance under the Protocol. ICCP-2 also invited Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversify and other States to submit to the Secretariat their views or understandings regarding a draft procedures and mechanisms on compliance under the Protocol on Biosafety, including functions and procedures of a possible compliance committee.

At its third meeting, the ICCP considered a review of a compilation and summary, prepared by the Secretariat, of views or understanding regarding a draft procedures and mechanisms on compliance under the Protocol on Biosafety (UNEP/CBD/ICCP/3/4). In its recommendation 3/2, it further developed the text of the draft procedures and mechanisms on compliance under the Cartagena Protocol that was recommended to COP-MOP 1.

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