Welcoming the conclusions and
suggestions for next steps from the Workshop on Capacity-building
for Research and Information Exchange on Socio-economic Impacts of
Living Modified Organisms held from 14 to 16 November 2011 in New
Delhi,
Noting that, in accordance with
paragraph 1 of Article 26 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety,
Parties may take into account, consistent with their international
obligations, socio-economic considerations arising from the impact
of living modified organisms on the conservation and sustainable
use of biological diversity, especially with regard to the value of
biological diversity to indigenous and local communities, in
reaching a decision on import under the Protocol or under their
domestic measures to implement the Protocol,
Recognizing the need expressed by
several Parties for further guidance when choosing to implement
paragraph 1 of Article 26 of the Protocol,
Recalling operational objective 1.7
of the Strategic Plan for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety for
the Period 2011-2020 and section IV of
decision
BS-V/3,
1.Encourages Parties, other
Governments and relevant organizations to continue to:
(a)Conduct research on the
socio-economic impact of living modified organisms with a view to
filling knowledge gaps and identifying specific socio-economic
issues, including those with positive impacts;
(b)Share and exchange, through the
Biosafety Clearing-House, information on their research, research
methods and experiences in taking the socio-economic impact of
living modified organisms into account;
(c)Engage local institutions of
higher education with a view to building domestic capacity in
socio-economic analysis of the impact of living modified organisms
on the conservation and sustainable use of biological
diversity;
2.Requests the Executive
Secretary, in order to develop a global overview, keeping in mind
national and regional specificities and policies along with other
commitments, to compile, take stock of and review information on
socio-economic considerations arising from the impact of living
modified organisms on the conservation and sustainable use of
biological diversity, especially with regard to the value of
biological diversity to indigenous and local communities, on the
basis of:
(a)Existing institutional
frameworks, legislation and policies with provisions on
socio-economic considerations;
(b)Capacity-building activities
related to biosafety and socio-economic considerations;
(c)Existing expertise and
experience;
(d)Other policy initiatives
concerning social and economic impact assessments;
3.Requests the Executive
Secretary to convene online discussion groups and regional online
real-time conferences to facilitate and synthesize the exchange of
views, information and experiences on socio-economic considerations
among Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations and
indigenous and local communities in the context of paragraph 1 of
Article 26;
4.Decides to establish an ad
hoc technical expert group, subject to the availability of funds,
to:
(a)Draw upon the outcomes of
paragraphs 2 and 3 above in order to develop conceptual clarity in
the context of paragraph 1 of Article 26;
(b)Carry out its work according to
the terms of reference annexed hereto; and
(c)Submit its report for
consideration by the seventh meeting of the Conference of the
Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena
Protocol on Biosafety with a view to enabling the meeting to
deliberate and decide upon appropriate further steps towards
fulfilling operational objective 1.7 of the Strategic Plan for the
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety for the Period 2011-2020 and its
outcomes, in a manner that provides flexibility to take into
account the situations in different countries;
5.Encourages Parties, other
Governments and relevant organizations to make funds available to
the Executive Secretary to organize a meeting of the ad hoc
technical expert group.
