In its
decision XII/24 the Conference of the Parties established an Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on Synthetic Biology with terms of reference contained in the annex to the decision, and requested the Executive Secretary to convene a moderated open-ended online forum to support the work of the AHTEG. In that same decision, the Conference of the Parties also invited Parties, other Governments, relevant international organizations, indigenous and local communities and other relevant stakeholders to
submit information on synthetic biology to the Executive Secretary.
Furthermore, in that same decision, the Conference of the Parties requested the Executive Secretary to submit for consideration by a meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) prior to the thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, the peer reviewed reports of the outcomes of this process.
Accordingly, the Executive Secretary issued notification
SCBD/BS/CG/MPM/DA/58140 inviting Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations and indigenous people and local communities to peer review the following reports for consideration by SBSTTA at its twentieth meeting to be held in Montreal, Canada from 25 to 29 April 2016 (these reports are available for download on the right):
- Updated report and synthesis of views in response to paragraph 7(b) of decision XII/24; and
- Report of the meeting of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Synthetic Biology;
National Focal Points to the Convention are kindly requested to coordinate views nationally prior to submission on behalf of Parties and other Governments. Only official submissions will be accepted on behalf of organizations. Submissions must be sent to the Secretariat via e-mail to synbio@cbd.int no later than 31 January 2016.
All information submitted in response to the notification is listed below. All submissions received through this peer-review process will be made available online and, along the aforementioned reports, will be taken into account in preparing the relevant documentation for the twentieth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice.
