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SECOND AD HOC OPEN-ENDED WORKING GROUP ON ACCESS AND BENEFIT-SHARING Montreal, Canada; 1-5 December 2003   Daily Web Coverage |Curtain| |Mon 1| |Tue 2| |Wed 3| |Thu 4| |Fri 5| Highlights for Friday, 5 December 2003 CLOSING PLENARY: On Friday, Working Group Chair Hoogeveen (right photo: left) opened the closing Plenary. SWG-I Chair Verleye and SWG-II Chair Verma reported on progress and outcomes of their sub-working groups. The report of SWG-I (UNEP/CBD/WG-ABS/2/L.1/Add.1) was adopted with a minor amendment. Delegates also adopted the report of SWG-II (UNEP/CBD/WG-ABS/2/L.1/Add.2) without amendment.

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Above photo: Mexican delegation	Above photo L-R: Valerie Normand, CBD Secretariat and      Diann Black Layne, Antigua and Barbuda
Switzerland (right photo: François Pythoud, Switzerland) noted that many sub-working groups' sessions were held without interpretation and requested the Bureau to provide timely information on the availability of interpretation for future meetings. Diann Black Layne, meeting rapporteur, presented the draft report of the meeting (UNEP/CBD/WG-ABS/2/L.1), which was adopted with an amendment proposed by Mexico, stating that the Working Group identified a clear need for an international ABS regime.
Above photo: Krishna Chandra Paudel (Nepal)	Above photo: David Hafashimana (Uganda)
Uganda on behalf of the African Group, Mexico on behalf of the LMMC, the EU, Nepal on behalf of the Asian Group, Egypt, Lithuania, Jordan, Palau, Canada and Colombia expressed their appreciation and gratitude to the organizers of the meeting, highlighting the progress made and expressing hope that the fruitful negotiations on an international ABS regime will continue at COP-7. Malaysia invited delegates to COP-7.
Above photo: Jeffrey Beattie (Palau)

The US (right photo: Leonard Hirsch, US) raised concern that many recommendations are not consistent with the CBD, such as, inter alia: references to countries of origin; references to derivatives and products; and the modalities of a certificate of origin. The IIFB reiterated the indigenous peoples' commitment to biodiversity conservation, and called for a code of ethics on ABS and recognition of indigenous communities' right to deny access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge for commercial use. A representative speaking on behalf of an NGO coalition noted the lack of a clear commitment to a legally binding international regime.

Hamdallah Zedan, CBD Executive Secretary  (above right) expressed his appreciation for the work done towards the implementation of CBD's third objective. Hans Hoogeveen, Working Group Chair  (above left) thanked participants and organizers, and closed the meeting at 1:45 pm.  

Links ENB coverage of the First Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-Sharing ENB Coverage and Summary (HTML, PDF, TEXT) of CBD SBSTTA-9 ENB archives of CBD meetings CBD web site CBD ABS official meeting documents  SD summary and coverage of the Vth IUCN World Parks Congress. SD summary of the Norway/UN Conference on Technology Transfer and Capacity Building.   First Meeting of the CGRFA acting as Interim Committee for the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture