Their responsibilities include all aspects of conducting the risk assessment which includes reviewing and researching the information regarding the LMO at hand, assessing and addressing any gaps and/ or uncertainties and issuing a report outlining the details of the risk assessment.

The risk assessor(s) in charge of leading the process is often responsible for the coordination of the expert panel or risk assessment team. Additionally they report the findings and disseminate relevant documents among other parties involved, including other stakeholders (see below), as appropriate, to ensure that information is shared properly and in a timely manner.

Parties to the Protocol shall ensure that they have procedures to protect confidential information as per Article 21 of the Protocol and in accordance with national legislation. As such, the risk assessor(s) is also required to respect any confidential business information indicated by the CNA taking into account that, according to the Protocol, the following information cannot be considered confidential:

1. the name and address of the notifier;
2. a general description of the living modified organism(s);
3. a summary of the risk assessment highlighting the effects of the LMO on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health; and
4. any methods and plans for an emergency response.

Once a scientific risk assessment is completed, the risk assessor(s) prepares a risk assessment report in accordance with the terms of reference established by the CNA. The report should be sufficiently detailed to provide the necessary scientific information to the decision makers (see Module 4).