ENB @ CBD ICCP-3, 22-26 April 2002, The Hague, The Netherlands

Third Meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (ICCP-3)
The Hague, The Netherlands
22-26 April 2002

Daily Web Coverage: Images and Real Audio

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ENB Summary
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ENB daily reports
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Highlights for Thursday 25 April 2002

Delegates to the third meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (ICCP) met in two working groups during the day. Working Group I (WG-I) discussed and adopted Conference Room Papers (CRP) on: Articles 18.2(a), (b) and (c) under handling, transport, packaging and identification; other issues necessary for the Protocol's implementation; and information sharing. Working Group II (WG-II) discussed and adopted CRPs on: liability and redress; the roster of experts; capacity building; and compliance. A contact group on compliance also met in the afternoon.

WORKING GROUP I: HANDLING, TRANSPORT, PACKAGING AND IDENTIFICATION

On Article 18.2(a) regarding documentation for living modified organisms for food, feed or processing (LMO-FFPs), contact group Co-Chair Eric Schoonejans (France) noted that the contact group could not reach consensus and presented a summary with an annex containing draft recommendations, which he believed could be used as a basis for future consideration.

CANADA, supported by many others, complimented the Co-Chair's efforts in facilitating the process and agreed to use the summary as a basis for future deliberation in conjunction with the expert group's recommendations, with some noting lack of agreement on the contents of the annex to the Co-Chair's summary.

INFORMATION SHARING:

NORWAY emphasized further elaboration before use in the BCH's operational phase.

OTHER IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES:

The EU suggested transmitting a footnote's contents to operative paragraphs indicating that issues regarding unique identification and risk assessment and management.

ETHIOPIA opposed, deleting a paragraph recommending MOP-1 to consider and provide guidance relating to transboundary movement between Parties and non-Parties.

WORKING GROUP II: LIABILITY AND REDRESS

Chair P.K. Ghosh (India) (center) noted that concerns had been raised on Wednesday, 24 April, regarding the questionnaire annexed to the draft recommendation. Following statements by regional groups, a "Friends of the Chair" group, chaired by Henrik Kjellin (Sweden), was established to consider it.

ROSTER OF EXPERTS:

JAPAN requested posting on the BCH reports on the pilot phase of the voluntary fund, and attach a description of the cases where daily rates exceeding the UN daily rate for experts may be approved.

CAPACITY BUILDING:

Namibia, on behalf of the AFRICAN GROUP, requested assistance for organizing workshops.

GLOBAL INDUSTRY COALITION suggested submitting proposals to the Secretariat regarding the private sector's role in capacity building, which will be included.

GEF opposed limiting reporting requirements to GEF projects, noting it was already reporting to the COP, and objected to a monitoring role for the Secretariat.

Chair Ghosh suggested, and delegates agreed to a central reporting mechanism to facilitate identification, instead of monitoring, of capacity-building projects, on the basis of information received. Delegates also agreed to specify use of existing databases to clarify that a new reporting mechanism was not being created. With these amendments and one minor correction, WG-II adopted the CRP.

COMPLIANCE:

The Chair Veit Koester (Denmark) (right) said he would forward to WG-II the draft recommendation with minor amendments and annexed draft procedures, including agreed removal of brackets concerning: consideration of information from the BCH, the COP, the MOP, subsidiary bodies and relevant international organizations; and taking into account a Party's capacity and the cause, type, degree and frequency of non-compliance when taking measures to address non-compliance.

ENB Snapshots:

Links:

COP-6 Provisional Agenda |PDF|WORD|

COP-6 Information for Participants in PDF

CBD-Handbook

IISD Introduction to the CBD Process