BS-IV/1. Report of the Compliance Committee

The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety,

Taking note of the report of the Compliance Committee, including its recommendations (UNEP/CBD/BS/COP-MOP/4/2),

Taking note also of the information compiled by the Compliance Committee on experience of other multilateral environmental agreements in addressing cases of repeated non-compliance (UNEP/CBD/BS/COP-MOP/4/2/Add.1),

Recognizing the need for improved intersessional coordination among members of each regional group to replace, expeditiously, Compliance Committee members who resign or are unable to complete their term,

Recognizing also the absence of any submissions relating to compliance to the Compliance Committee to date,

1. Reminds each Party of its obligation to adopt appropriate domestic measures addressing illegal transboundary movements of living modified organisms and to report the occurrence of such movements to the Biosafety Clearing-House;

2. Calls upon each regional group to consider and apply mechanisms:

(a) To ensure that nominees to the Compliance Committee are willing and able to attend and fully participate in the meetings of the Committee; and

(b) That would best suit and enable them to replace members of the Compliance Committee who resign during an intersessional period or who are unable to complete their term of office in accordance with rule 10 of the rules of procedure of the Compliance Committee and to do so in an expeditious manner;

3. Decides to defer consideration or, as appropriate, adoption of measures on repeated cases of non-compliance until such time as experience may justify the need for developing and adopting such measures;

4. Urges Parties to renew efforts to facilitate agreement on rule 18 of the rules of procedure for the meetings of the Compliance Committee;

5. Encourages the Compliance Committee to meet less than twice a year if it deems it sufficient and within the budget adopted by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol, notwithstanding the periodicity of meetings provided for in section II of the annex to decision BS-I/7;

6. Invites Parties to submit to the Executive Secretary no later than six months prior to the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol their views on how the supportive role of the Compliance Committee could be improved, and requests the Executive Secretary to compile the views and make them available to the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol.