Update for Wednesday, 3 October 2001

Delegates to the second Meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (ICCP-2) met in two Working Groups throughout the day. Working Group I (WG-I) discussed: information sharing; handling, transport, packaging and identification; monitoring and reporting; and other issues necessary for the Protocol's implementation. Working Group II discussed capacity building, guidance to the financial mechanism, decision-making procedures, and liability and redress. Regarding the organization of work, the ICCP Bureau decided that WG-I would consider monitoring and reporting, and WG-II would address guidance to the financial mechanism and compliance. Additionally, Veit Koester (Denmark) and ICCP Chair Amb. Philémon Yang (Cameroon) would conduct informal consultations on rules of procedure and the Secretariat respectively prior to further decision by the Bureau. Above photo: The morning dias of Working Group I chaired by François Pythoud (Switzerland) Above photo: Bird's eye view of Working Group 2, chaired by Mohammad Reza salamat (Iran)

WORKING GROUP I:

INFORMATION SHARING:

In the afternoon, WG-I offered comments on a Chair's text on information sharing. Chair Pythoud (right) noted that the Annex on technical issues associated with the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) contained recommendations from the Liaison Groups and did not duplicate those offered by ICCP-1, following questions on its content.

The BELGIUM (right), on behalf of the European Community and its Member States (EU) proposed, inter alia, new language: recognizing that the guiding principles for the pilot phase's development should be user-friendliness, searchability, and maximum accessibility; recognizing the need to continue development of common formats for restoring information; and requesting the Secretariat to pursue existing cooperation with international, regional and subregional organizations, regarding decision procedures and use of a unique identification system.

MONITORING AND REPORTING:

LATVIA (left), on behalf of Central and Eastern European Countries, and JAMAICA requested references to countries with economies in transition and small islands developing states respectively. 

CANADA suggested that the interval should be every four years, with an interim report in the second year after the Protocol's entry into force. Other minor edits were made.

CONTACT GROUP ON ARTICLE 18.2(a):

In the morning, WG-1 Chair François Pythoud (Switzerland) announced the formation of a contact group on Article 18.2(a), on documentation for LMO-FFPs, under the item on handling, transport, packaging and identification. The contact group met in the morning, afternoon and evening, and reported to WG-I in the afternoon. Taking into account relevant recommendations in UNEP/CBD/ICCP/2/12 and the annex of ICCP-1's report (UNEP/CBD/ICCP/1/9), the contact group worked to identify elements that need to be addressed in a timely manner and modalities for a process for discussion by MOP-1. Right photo: The Contact Group on Article 18.2(a) dias chaired by Eric Schoonejans (France) (far right).

WORKING GROUP II:

COMPLIANCE:

WG-II Chair Mohammad Reza Salamat (center left)  (Islamic Republic of Iran) noted the report of the Experts' Meeting on Compliance (UNEP/CBD/ICCP/2/13/Add.1) and proposed working on the Draft Procedures and Mechanisms on Compliance presented in its annex. Some delegates expressed readiness to work on the text, and others expressed concerns with the draft's legal status and noted difficulties in proceeding with substantive negotiations at ICCP-2.

DECISION-MAKING PROCEDURES: 

Chair Salamat introduced a draft recommendation, including an annex with sections on guidelines and procedures to facilitate decision making by Parties of import. Regarding guidelines, delegates debated and agreed to reference: Parties of import that are developing countries or countries with economies in transition; and other mechanisms, such as the BCH, apart from the roster of experts.

Following a suggestion by BRAZIL (left), they agreed to use facilitation. Reference to whether the Party of import "may" or "should" inform the Party of export or the notifier of its request for assistance, remains bracketed.

LIABILITY AND REDRESS: 

Chair Salamat introduced a draft recommendation, and delegates agreed to a paragraph recommending continued information gathering on liability and redress with minor additions. On two paragraphs regarding provision of information and preparation of a synthesis report on liability and redress for damage resulting from transboundary movement of LMOs, the US (right) and BRAZIL proposed, and many opposed, further specification of "damage." 

CONTACT GROUP ON CAPACITY BUILDING, THE ROSTER OF EXPERTS AND GUIDANCE TO THE FINANCIAL MECHANISM:

The contact group continued meeting during the day. It concluded discussions on capacity building and the Draft Action Plan and began addressing the interim guidelines for the roster of experts contained in UNEP/CBD/ICCP/2/10/Add.1.

PLENARY:

Plenary convened late in the afternoon to hear reports on the Working Groups' progress. WG-I Chair Pythoud noted that: Chair's texts had been developed and discussed on information sharing and monitoring and reporting; a Chair's text on other issues necessary for the Protocol's implementation remained for discussion; and a contact group was currently addressing Article 18.2(a).WG-II Chair Salamat noted that draft recommendations had been partially discussed on liability and redress, and fully discussed with some areas of disagreement on decision-making procedures. He said that a draft recommendation on compliance was being developed, and that a contact group was discussing capacity building, the roster of experts and guidance to the financial mechanism.

ENB SNAPSHOTS:

ICCP-2 meeting website  with official documents and information for participants (PDF or DOC)
CBD Secretariat web site 
Biosafety Clearing-House
ENB Summary of ICCP-1(HTML, PDF and TXT)
ENB daily website coverage, photos, RealAudio files and daily reports from ICCP-1
IISD analysis of the Cartagena Protocol
 

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