The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
1.Welcomes the contribution of CAD 1,576,652, for the year 2015 and CAD 1,584,692 for the year 2016, from the host country, Canada, and the Province of Quebec to the rental of the premises of the Secretariat, of which 16.5 per cent has been allocated per annum to offset contributions from the Parties to the Protocol for the biennium 2015-2016;
2.Approves a core programme budget (BG) of US$ 3,243,500 for the year 2015 and of US$ 3,190,400 for the year 2016, for the purposes set out in table 1 below;
3.Approves secretariat staffing as set out in table 2 below;
4.Adopts the scale of assessments for the apportionment of the costs under the Protocol for 2015 and 2016 set out in table 5 below;
5.Decides, in the light of the recommendation of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) in its report on the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, to increase the working capital reserve to a level of 7.5 per cent of the core programme budget (BG) expenditure, including programme support costs, and to do so from the existing BG fund balance;
6.Authorizes the Executive Secretary to enter into commitments up to the level of the approved budget, drawing on available cash resources, including unspent balances, contributions from previous financial periods and miscellaneous income;
7.Authorizes the Executive Secretary to transfer resources among the programmes between each of the main appropriation lines set out in table 1 below up to an aggregate of 15 per cent of the total programme budget, provided that a further limitation of up to a maximum of 25 per cent of each such appropriation line shall apply;
8.Agrees to share the costs for secretariat services between those that are common to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Protocol on an 85:15 ratio for the biennium 2015-2016, while noting that the proportionate division between the Convention and its two Protocols will need to be reconsidered for the 2017-2018 budget following discussions on the implementation of the Functional Review of the Secretariat;
9.Invites all Parties to the Protocol to note that contributions to the core programme budget (BG) are due on 1 January of the year in which these contributions have been budgeted for, and to pay them promptly, and urges Parties in a position to do so, to pay by 1 December of the year 2014 for the calendar year 2015 and by 1 October 2015 for the calendar year 2016, the contributions set out in table 5 and in this regard requests that Parties be notified of the amount of their contributions for 2016 by 1 August 2015;
10.Notes with concern that a number of Parties have not paid their contributions to the core budget (BG Trust Fund) for 2014 and prior years, including 14 Parties that have never paid their contributions, and also notes that, in accordance with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards adopted by the United Nations, arrears estimated at $92,738 will be outstanding at the end of 2014 and will have to be deducted from the fund balance to cover doubtful debt and so cannot be used for the benefit of all Parties;
11.Urges Parties that have still not paid their contributions to the core budget (BG Trust Fund) for 2014 and prior years; to do so without delay and requests the Executive Secretary to publish and regularly update information on the status of contributions to the Protocol's Trust Funds (currently BG, BH and BI) and on the implication of non-payment of assessed contributions for the fund balance;
12.Confirms that, with regard to contributions due from 1 January 2005 onwards, Parties whose contributions are in arrears for two (2) or more years will not be eligible to become a member of the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol, and that this will only apply in the case of Parties that are not least developed countries or small island developing States;
13.Authorizes the Executive Secretary to enter into arrangements with any Party whose contributions are in arrears for two or more years to mutually agree on a “schedule of payments” for such a Party, to clear all outstanding arrears, within six years depending on the financial circumstances of the Party in arrears and pay future contributions by the due date, and report on the implementation of any such arrangement to the next meeting of the Bureau and to the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety;
14.Decides that a Party with an agreed arrangement in accordance with paragraph 13 above and that is fully respecting the provisions of that arrangement will not be subject to the provisions of paragraph 12 above;
15.Requests the Executive Secretary and invites the President of the COP-MOP through a jointly signed letter to notify Parties whose contributions are in arrears to invite them to take timely action and thanks those Parties that have responded in a positive manner in paying their outstanding contributions;
16.Agrees with the funding estimates for activities under the Protocol to be financed from:
(a)The Special Voluntary Trust Fund (BH) for Additional Voluntary Contributions in Support of Approved Activities for the biennium 2015-2016, as specified by the Executive Secretary, giving special attention to capacity-building (see resource requirements in table 3 below);
(b)The Special Voluntary Trust Fund (BI) for Facilitating Participation of the Developing Country Parties, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, Parties with Economies in Transition, for the biennium 2015-2016, as specified by the Executive Secretary (see resource requirements in table 4 below);
and
urges Parties to make contributions to these funds;
17.Considers that the trust funds for the Protocol (BG, BH, BI) should be extended for a period of two years, beginning 1 January 2016 and ending 31 December 2017, and requests the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme to seek the approval of the United Nations Environment Assembly for their extension;
18.Agrees, in view of the decision to hold the ordinary meetings of the Parties of the Cartagena Protocol concurrently with the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, subject to the agreement of the Conference of the Parties and taking into account advice to be provided by the Executive Secretary and the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, to merge the BI special voluntary Trust Fund with the BZ Voluntary Trust Fund, which facilitates participation of Parties in the meetings related to the Convention and its Protocols and, in the event of such merger, requests the Executive Secretary to ensure transparency when reporting expenditure for the Protocol and the Convention under the merged Trust Fund;
19.Invites all States not Parties to the Protocol, as well as governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and other sources, to contribute to the trust funds for the Protocol (BH, BI) to enable the Secretariat to implement approved activities in a timely manner;
20.Notes with concern the low level of contributions to the BI Trust Fund, which facilitates participation in the meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol;
21.Reaffirms the importance of full and effective participation of the developing country Parties, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, as well as Parties with economies in transition, in the activities of the Protocol and, requests the Secretariat to remind Parties of the need to contribute to the Special Voluntary Trust Fund (BI) at least six months prior to the ordinary meetings of the Conference of the Parties, and urges Parties in the position to do so to ensure that the contributions are paid at least three months before the meeting;
22.Stresses the importance of the decisions of the Conference of the Parties of the Convention and the meetings of the Parties of its Protocols on improving the efficiency of structures and processes under the Convention and its Protocols and on the outcome of the Functional Review of the Secretariat and their implications for the future budgets of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety;
23.Also requests the Executive Secretary to provide information on savings resulting from the integration of the work of the Secretariat of the Convention and its Protocols;
24.Requests the Executive Secretary to prepare and submit a programme budget for secretariat services and the biosafety work programme of the Protocol for the biennium 2017-2018 to the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol, and to provide two alternatives for the budget based on:
(a)The Executive Secretary’s assessment of the required rate of growth for the programme budget which should not exceed a 5 per cent increase from the 2015-2016 level in nominal terms;
(b)Maintaining the core programme budget (BG Trust Fund) at the 2015-2016 level in nominal terms as in table 1;
25.Requests the Executive Secretary to report on income and budget performance, unspent balances and the status of surplus and carry-overs as well as any adjustments made to the Protocol budget for the biennium 2015-2016 and to provide to the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol and biosafety focal points all financial information regarding the budget for the Convention on Biological Diversity at the same time as it is provided to Parties to the Convention;
