BS-IV/7. Programme budget for the costs of the secretariat services for and the biosafety work programme of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety for the biennium 2009 2010

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

1. Welcomes the annual contribution of US$ 1,040,400, to be increased by 2 per cent per year, from the host country Canada and the Province of Quebec to the operation of the Secretariat, of which 16.5 per cent has been allocated per annum to offset contributions from the Parties to the Protocol for the biennium 2009-2010;

2. Approves a core programme budget (BG) of US$ 2,611,800 for the year 2009 and of US$ 2,880,900 for the year 2010, for the purposes set out in table 1 below;

3. Approves a drawing of US$ 740,000 from unspent balances or contributions (carry over) from previous financial periods which was US$ 1,497,777 as of the end of 2005-2006 biennium to cover part of the 2009-2010 core programme budget;

4. Authorises the Executive Secretary to enter into commitments up to the level of the approved budget, drawing on available cash resources, including unspent balances, contributions from previous financial periods and miscellaneous income;

5. Approves Secretariat staffing as set out in table 2 below, and requests that all vacant staff positions be filled expeditiously;

6. Agrees to share the costs for secretariat services between those that are common to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Protocol on an 85:15 ratio for the biennium 2009-2010;

7. Adopts the scale of assessments for the apportionment of the costs under the Protocol for 2009 and 2010 set out in table 5 below;

8. Decides to set the working capital reserve at a level of 5 per cent of the core programme budget (BG) expenditure, including programme support costs;

9. Invites all Parties to the Protocol to note that contributions to the core programme budget (BG) are due on 1 January of the year in which these contributions have been budgeted for, and to pay them promptly, and urges Parties in a position to do so, to pay by 1 October of the year 2008 for the calendar year 2009 and by 1 October 2009 for the calendar year 2010, the contributions set out in table 5 and in this regard requests Parties be notified of the amount of their contributions by 1 August of the year preceding the year in which the contributions are due;

10. Notes with concern that a number of Parties have not paid their contributions to the core budget (BG Trust Fund) for 2007 and prior years;

11. Urges Parties that have still not paid their contributions to the core budget (BG Trust Fund) for 2007 and prior years; to do so without delay and requests the Executive Secretary to publish and regularly update information on the status of contributions to the Protocol's Trust Funds (BG, BH and BI);

12. Decides that with regard to contributions due from 1 January 2005 onwards, Parties whose contributions are in arrears for two (2) or more years will not be eligible to become a member of the bureau of the Protocol; this will only apply in the case of Parties that are not least developed countries or small island developing states;

13. Authorizes the Executive Secretary to enter into arrangements with any Party whose contributions are in arrears for two or more years to mutually agree on a 'schedule of payments' for such a Party, to clear all outstanding arrears, within six years depending on the financial circumstances of the Party in arrears and pay future contributions by the due date, and report on the implementation of any such arrangement to the next meeting of the Bureau and to the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety;

14. Decides that a Party with an agreed arrangement in accordance with paragraph 13 above and that is fully respecting the provisions of that arrangement will not be subject to the provisions of paragraph 12 above;

15. Takes note of the funding estimates for activities under the Protocol to be financed from:

(a) The Special Voluntary Trust Fund (BH) for Additional Voluntary Contributions in Support of Approved Activities for the biennium 2009-2010, as specified by the Executive Secretary (see resource requirements in table 3 );

(b) The Special Voluntary Trust Fund (BI) for Facilitating Participation of the Developing Country Parties, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, and Parties with Economies in Transition, for the biennium 2009-2010, as specified by the Executive Secretary (see resource requirements in table 4 ); and urges Parties to make contributions to these funds;

16. Requests the Secretariat to remind the Parties on the need for contributions to the BI Trust Fund at least six month prior to the meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol reflecting on the financial need and urges Parties in the position to do so to ensure that the contributions are paid at least three months before the meeting;

17. Invites all States not Parties to the Protocol, as well as governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and other sources, to contribute to the trust funds for the Protocol (BH, BI) to enable the Secretariat to implement approved activities in a timely manner especially capacity-building priorities and activities identified by developing countries and small island developing States, and Parties with economies in transition in respect of risk assessment and risk management and the effective operation of the Biosafety Clearing-House;

18. Reaffirms the importance of full and active participation of the developing country parties, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, as well as Parties with Economies in Transition in the activities of the Protocol and, with the aim of improving the legitimacy of Protocol decisions, authorises the Executive Secretary in agreement with the Bureau to draw upon the savings and or surplus of the BG Trust Fund up to a maximum of US$ 150,000 to cover the costs incurred with the facilitation of the participation in the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol of the developing country Parties, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, and Parties with economies in transition, if there are not sufficient funds available in the BI Trust Fund three months before the meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol; 19. Decides that the trust funds for the Protocol (BG, BH, BI) shall be extended for a period of two years, beginning 1 January 2010 and ending 31 December 2011;

20. Requests the Executive Secretary to prepare and submit a programme budget for secretariat services and the biosafety work programme of the Protocol for the biennium 2011-2012 to the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol, and to provide 3 alternatives for the budget based on:

(a) The Executive Secretary will make assessment of the required rate of growth for the programme budget;

(b) Increasing the core programme budget (BG Trust Fund) from the 2009 - 2010 level by 10 per cent in nominal terms;

(c) Maintaining the core programme budget (BG Trust Fund) from the 2009 - 2010 level in nominal terms;

21. Requests the Executive Secretary to report on income and budget performance, unspent balances and the status of surplus and carry-overs, including the status of implementation of paragraph 19 as well as any adjustments made to the Protocol budget for the biennium 2009-2010 and to provide to the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol and biosafety focal points all financial information regarding the budget for the Convention on Biological Diversity at the same time as it is provided to Parties to the Convention;

22. Requests the Executive Secretary, in presenting the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2011-2012 to the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol, to use the modality and tracking mechanism to review the ratio specified in paragraph 6 above;

23. Reconfirms the importance of applying the procedure set out in annex I of decision VIII/10 of the Conference of the Parties to priority setting to guide the allocation of financial resources by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol, but agrees that the mid-meeting report to the plenary of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol should be made available after the initial consideration of draft decisions by working groups;

24. Requests the Executive Secretary drawing on, inter alia, the Joint Inspection Unit recommendations contained in General Assembly document A/45/130, the experience of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the work done by the Secretariat of the Rotterdam Convention in response to decisions RC 3/7 and RC 1/17 paragraph 23, to explore the advantages and disadvantages of using the host country currency or the US$ as the currency of the account and budget of the Protocol and to report and if appropriate make proposals for decision at the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol;

25. Notes with appreciation the decision of the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme to finance the post of Fund Management Officer of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety through the programme support costs and requests the Executive Secretary to negotiate with the Executive Director additional support to the Protocol for the 2009-2010 biennium from this source and to report to the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety;

26. Invites the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme to report to the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety on the use of the programme support cost (PSC) in support of the functioning of the Secretariat;

27. Welcomes the efforts of the Executive Secretary in greening activities by the Secretariat such as the carbon-offsetting of travel of staff and funded participants to the meetings under the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Table 1. Biosafety Protocol resource requirements from the core budget (BG Trust Fund) for the biennium 2009-2010

Expenditures

* Includes 15% costs for 1P-5, 3 P-4, 6 P-3 and 3 G-S staff funded mainly by the Convention.

Table 2. Biosafety Protocol staffing requirements from the core budget (BG Trust Fund) for the biennium 2009-2010

Table 3. Special Voluntary Trust Fund (BH) for Additional Voluntary Contributions in Support of Approved Activities of the Cartagena Protocol for the biennium 2009-2010

Table 4. Special Voluntary Trust Fund (BI) for Facilitating Participation of Parties in the Protocol for the biennium 2009-2010

(Thousands of United States dollars)

Table 5. Contributions to the Trust Fund for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety for the biennium 2009-2010