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Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

The Conference of the Parties,

Welcoming the deposit of instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession in respect of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety by Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and calling upon other Parties to the Convention to deposit such instruments as soon as possible,

Calling once again upon States that are not Parties to the Convention to ratify, accept, approve or accede to it, as appropriate, without delay, thereby enabling them also to become Parties to the Protocol,

Recalling the mandate given to the open-ended ad hoc Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in Decision EM-I/3 to undertake, with the support of the Executive Secretary, the preparations necessary for the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol,

Recalling also decision V/1 regarding the work plan for the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety,

Recognizing the need to implement the provisions and requirements of the Protocol at the time of its entry into force,

Having considered the reports of the two meetings of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, held in Montpellier, France, from 11 to 15 December, 2000, and in Nairobi from 1 to 5 October, 2001, respectively,

1. Endorses the decision of the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties regarding the authorization of the convening of a third meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety back-to-back with the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties;
2. Welcomes the kind invitation of the Government of the Netherlands to host the third meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in The Hague from 22 to 26 April 2002;
3. Requests the Executive Secretary:
1. In the event that the Protocol enters into force within one year of the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, to convene the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol in conjunction with an extraordinary meeting of the Conference of the Parties, no later than eight months after the entry into force of the Protocol and taking into account that adequate preparations for the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol may require at least six months;
2. In the event that the Protocol enters into force more than one year after the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties but before the seventh meeting, to convene the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol in conjunction with the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties, pursuant to paragraph 6 of Article 29 of the Protocol, taking into account that adequate preparations for the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties may require at least six months;
4. Decides that, in the event that the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol cannot be held in conjunction with an extraordinary meeting of the Conference of the Parties between the sixth and seventh regular meetings of the Conference of the Parties, further meetings of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety may be convened for preparations of the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties, and, to this end, requests the Executive Secretary, in consultation with the bureaux of the Conference of the Parties and of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, to keep the situation under review and make appropriate arrangements in this regard;
5. Invites Parties and States to make contributions for the supplementary budget for biosafety to the Special Voluntary Trust Fund (BE) for Additional Voluntary Contributions in support of any inter-sessional activities and the meetings of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety referred to in paragraph 4 above;
6. Urges Parties to renew efforts to facilitate agreement on paragraph 1 of rule 40 of the rules of procedure for meetings of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, in light of potential implications for the effective operation of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol;
7. Urges Parties to designate national focal points and competent national authorities pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 19 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.