Home >  The Convention >   

Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
Meetings of the Intergovernmental Committee

Background

Meeting Venue Dates
ICCP 3 Third Meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety The Hague, Netherlands 22 - 26 Apr. 2002
ICCP 2 Second Meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety Nairobi, Kenya 1 - 5 Oct. 2001
ICCP 1 First Meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety Montpellier, France 11 - 15 Dec. 2000
ICCP Org. Organizational Meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol Montreal, Canada 29 Jan. 2000

Work of the ICCP

In paragraph 10 of decision EM-I/3, the Conference of the Parties requested the Executive Secretary to develop, in consultation with the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Committee, a work plan for the Committee for consideration and approval by the Conference of the Parties at its fifth meeting. This work plan, developed following a meeting of the Bureau of the ICCP on 13-14 March, 2000 in Paris at the kind invitation of the Government of France, was endorsed by the Conference of the Parties at its fifth meeting (decision V/1).

ICCP-1

The first meeting of the ICCP was held in Montpellier, France, from 11 to 15 December 2000 at the kind invitation of the Government of France. The meeting was attended by 578 participants from 82 Governments and 133 United Nations bodies, intergovernmental, non-governmental and industry organizations. The meeting considered issues that had been identified by COP 5 for the first meeting of the ICCP, namely: information sharing and the Biosafety Clearing-House; capacity building; decision-making procedures; handling, transport, packaging and identification; and compliance.

The conclusions and recommendations of the meeting are contained in its report (UNEP/CBD/ICCP/1/9).

ICCP-2

The second meeting of the ICCP was held from 1 to 5 October 2001 in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting was attended by 349 participants from 117 countries and 47 intergovernmental, non-governmental, private sector and indigenous organizations. Issues discussed at this meeting included items for further consideration from the first meeting of the ICCP, as well as issues concerning liability and redress (Article 27), monitoring and reporting (Article 33), the Secretariat (Article 31), guidance to the financial mechanism (Article 28, para. 5, Article 22), rules of procedure for the meeting of the Parties, consideration of other issues necessary for effective implementation of the Protocol (e.g., Article 29, para. 4), and elaboration of a draft provisional agenda for the first meeting of the Parties.

The full report of the meeting is available in document UNEP/CBD/ICCP/2/15, and the main conclusions and recommendations are summarized below.

Capacity building: An action plan for building capacities to implement the Protocol was adopted and the Secretariat was requested to develop a coordination mechanism for its implementation. MOP was invited adopt interim guidelines for use of the roster of experts. The Executive Secretary will administer the roster, develop a voluntary fund to support eligible Parties to use it and provide progress reports to MOP.

Information sharing: The progress on the pilot phase of the Biosafety Clearing-House was welcomed and recommendations for further development made. Governments were urged to nominate national BCH focal points and to participate actively in the pilot phase. The Executive Secretary was requested to develop CD-ROMs of the pilot phase for distribution to Governments, along with templates and guidance to facilitate the creation of national BCHs.

Liability and redress: Governments and organizations were invited submit to the Secretariat further information, and to organize workshops, on this issue. MOP will consider a draft decision to establish an open-ended ad hoc group of legal and technical experts to elaborate a liability and redress regime, taking into account the views and information submitted.

Handling, transport, packaging and identification of LMOs: International organizations were invited to advise the Executive Secretary on their ability to assist Parties to meet the requirements of Article 18(2)(b) and 18(2)(c) of the Protocol, and on their capacity to adjust their systems, if necessary. The Secretariat was requested to convene a meeting of technical experts on Article 18(2)(b) and 18(2)(c) and to develop a model template. A similar meeting on Article 18(2)(a) will be convened back-to-back to consider views to be submitted by Governments and organisations.

Decision-making procedures: MOP was invited to decide: a) to adopt the proposed procedures and mechanisms; b) to identify and build upon mechanisms to facilitate capacity building; and c) to review the procedures.

Establishment of a compliance mechanism: MOP was be invited to consider the draft procedures and mechanisms on compliance under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, proposed by the Open-ended Meeting of Experts on a Compliance Regime under the Protocol that was held just prior to ICCP-2. Governments were invited to submit their views on the draft to be compiled by the Secretariat for MOP-1.

Other issues necessary for effective implementation of the Protocol: Governments will submit to the Secretariat comments on mechanisms to promote consideration of such issues, on issues requiring clarification and on items to be included in the medium-term programme of work.

Guidance to the financial mechanism: MOP was invited to consider and recommend to COP the proposed eligibility criteria and guidance drawing upon the capacity building action plan and other priorities identified by ICCP.

Monitoring and reporting: Governments were invited to provide comments on the draft format for reporting and MOP.1 was invited to establish guidelines requiring Parties to prepare their reports every four years through a consultative process.

The Secretariat: COP was invited to approve the core budget for 2003 and 2004 and voluntary contributions were invited to support non-core activities and participation of developing countries.

Finally, in view of need for further preparatory work, and in the event that does not enter into force in time MOP-1 to be held in conjunction with COP-VI in April 2002, a third ICCP meeting, to be held with COP-VI, was recommended.

ICCP-3

The third meeting of the ICCP was held from 22 to 26 April 2001 in The Hague, The Netherlands. Around 580 participants attended the meeting from 147 countries and over 100 organizations. The meeting was attended by 580 participants from 147 countries and over 100 United Nations bodies, intergovernmental, non-governmental and industry organizations were represented.

ICCP 3 considered those items of its work plan approved by COP-V that had been addressed by its previous two meetings but still clearly needed further consideration in order to facilitate decision-making by the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol. Issues discussed at this meeting included information sharing and the Biosafety Clearing-House; capacity building; handling, transport, packaging and identification; compliance; liability and redress; monitoring and reporting; consideration of other issues necessary for effective implementation of the Protocol; and items to be included in a medium-term programme of work.

The full report of the meeting is available in document UNEP/CBD/ICCP/3/10, and the main conclusions and recommendations are summarized below.

ICCP-3, and earlier the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (COP.6) and its ministerial segment, highlighted the urgent need for all States to ratify or accede to the Protocol soon. A survey done during the meeting indicated that 48 countries intended to become Parties before the end of 2002 thus suggesting its possible entry into force in early 2003.

The meeting emphasized the need for the pilot phase of the BCH to be fully functional and accessible by the time of entry into force of the Protocol and for countries to have the necessary capacities. It called for active participation by all Governments in the pilot phase and for its further development and for more regional activities and tools to assist countries to develop national databases interoperable with the BCH.

Further, the meeting welcomed the decisions by COP.6 requesting the Global Environment Facility to provide funds for national capacity-building in biosafety and another establishing the pilot-phase of a voluntary trust fund for the roster of experts. It recommended a coordination mechanism for implementation of the capacity-building action plan and interim operational guidelines for the voluntary fund. Parties and Governments were requested to nominate experts and/or update information currently in the roster; register information on their capacity-building initiatives in the BCH; and submit views on the preliminary set of indicators for the Action Plan.

The meeting also called for further gathering of information on: the issue of liability and redress; standards, practices and rules relevant to handling, packaging, transport and identification of living modified organisms (LMOs); and on operational experience on the criteria for categorization of LMOs. Government and relevant organizations were further requested to submit views on unique identification systems, items to be included in the medium-term programme of work and on the draft format for monitoring and reporting.

Related links:

ICCP coverage by the Earth Negotiation Bulletin Meetings of the ICCP Bureau Related Notifications Contact details