Taking note of the report of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on the Second Assessment and Review of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety contained in document UNEP/BS/COP-MOP/6/17 and the recommendations set out in annex I thereto,
Stressing the need to undertake activities to enable the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to initiate the processes for the third assessment and review of the effectiveness of the Protocol and for the mid-term evaluation of the Strategic Plan for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety for the period 2011-2020,
1.Notes the information provided in the second national reports and the analysis undertaken on the status of implementation of core elements of the Protocol (
UNEP/CBD/BS/COP-MOP/6/17/Add.1);
2.Decides that the data and information contained in the analysis shall form the baseline for measuring progress in implementing the Protocol, in particular the subsequent evaluation of the effectiveness of the Protocol and the mid-term evaluation of the implementation of the Strategic Plan;
3.Requests the Executive Secretary to:
(a)Undertake a dedicated survey to gather information corresponding to indicators in the Strategic Plan that could not be obtained from the second national reports or through other existing mechanisms;
(b)Review the information gathered through the survey referred to in subparagraph (a) above and make the results available to the Parties before their seventh meeting;
4.Further requests the Executive Secretary to:
(a)Commission a consultant, subject to the availability of funds, to develop a sound methodological approach for the third assessment and review of the effectiveness of the Protocol, focusing primarily on the effectiveness of its institutional processes, annexes, procedures and mechanisms;
(b) Provide Parties with the opportunity to submit views on the methodological approach developed under subparagraph (a) above;
(c)Review the methodological approach referred to in subparagraph 4(a) above, in the light of views received under subparagraph (b) above, and submit a proposal for consideration by the seventh meeting of the Parties to the Protocol;
5.Decides that, in the process of preparing for the third assessment and review of the Protocol, the experiences of the Parties in complying with the Protocol, including submission of national reports, shall be taken into account, along with the input of, inter alia, the Compliance Committee;
6.Requests the Compliance Committee, in the light of the conclusions and recommendations of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on the Second Assessment and Review of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, to evaluate the status of implementation of the Protocol as a contribution to the third evaluation of effectiveness in meeting the objectives of the Protocol, in accordance with Article 35 of the Protocol.
