Assessment and review

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

Recalling Article 35 of the Protocol,

Recognizing that a considerable number of Parties are in the early stages of developing and implementing their national biosafety legislative and regulatory regimes,

Noting that there is insufficient information and operational experience with the implementation of the Protocol,

Noting also that the lack of implementation of the Protocol by developing country-Parties, in particular the least developed and small island developing States among them, and Parties with economies in transition may not be due to inherent problems with the Protocol but rather due to lack of capacity to implement the Protocol,

Noting further that the assessment and review process under Article 35 should be based, inter alia, on national reports submitted by Parties pursuant to Article 33 of the Protocol,

1. Invites Parties, other Governments as well relevant intergovernmental and non‑governmental organizations and other stakeholders to submit their views to the Secretariat not later than six months prior to the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Such views should:

(a) Evaluate the effectiveness of the Protocol, including an assessment of procedures and annexes, taking into account the items specified in paragraph 6 (b) of the medium-term programme of work contained in the annex to decision BS-I/12;

(b) Assess the procedures and annexes under the Protocol, with a view to identifying difficulties arising from implementation as well as suggestions for appropriate indicators and/or criteria for evaluating effectiveness and ideas on the modalities of the evaluation;

2. Requests the Executive Secretary, under the guidance of the Bureau, to prepare a synthesis of the views submitted in accordance with paragraph 1 above as well as information contained in the first national reports submitted by Parties, and make it available to the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol;

3. Requests the Compliance Committee to prepare a report on general issues of compliance by Parties with their obligations under the Protocol, in accordance with paragraph 1 (d) of section III of the Compliance Procedures and Mechanisms contained in the annex to decision BS-I/7, and make this report available six months prior to the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol.