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COP 10 Decision X/38

X/38.Invasive alien species

The Conference of the Parties,

A.Invasive alien species introduced as pets, aquarium and terrarium species, and as live bait and live food

Pursuant to paragraph 10 of its decision IX/4,
1.Takes note of the information compiled by the Executive Secretary for addressing invasive alien species introduced as pets, aquarium and terrarium species, as live bait and live food, as summarized in the note prepared for the fourteenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice;95
2.Establishes an ad hoc technical expert group (AHTEG) to suggest ways and means, including, inter alia, providing scientific and technical information, advice and guidance, on the possible development of standards by appropriate bodies that can be used at an international level to avoid spread of invasive alien species that current international standards do not cover, to address the identified gaps and to prevent the impacts and minimize the risks associated with the introduction of invasive alien species as pets, aquarium and terrarium species, as live bait and live food with the terms of reference annexed hereto; and expresses its appreciation to the Government of Spain for providing the financial assistance for the organization of the Expert Group;
3.Requests the Executive Secretary:
(a)To seek further submissions from Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations on examples of best practices for addressing invasive alien species introduced as pets, aquarium and terrarium species, and as live bait and live food;
(b)To convene meetings of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group established in paragraph 2 above, and to submit its report for consideration at a meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice prior to the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties;
(c)To explore further ways and means to improve the capacity of Parties to address invasive alien species introduced as pets, aquarium and terrarium species, and as live bait and live food, including through consultation with secretariats of relevant biodiversity-related conventions and relevant international organizations such as the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES);

B.Other matters related to invasive alien species

4.Recognizes the critical importance of regional collaboration to address the threat of invasive alien species, particularly as a means to enhance ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change;
5.Welcomes the report of the workshop "Helping Islands Adapt: A Workshop on Regional Action to Combat Invasive Alien Species on Islands to Preserve Biodiversity and Adapt to Climate Change" held in Auckland, New Zealand, from 11 to 16 April 201096 referred to in decisions IX/4 and IX/21;
6.Recognizing the threats to biodiversity of existing and potentially new invasive alien species, urges Parties and encourages other Governments to apply the precautionary approach with regards to the introduction, establishment and spread of invasive alien species, for agricultural and biomass production, including biofuel feedstocks, and for carbon sequestration, following the guiding principles on invasive alien species contained in the annex to decision VI/23*;
7.Encourages Parties and invites other Governments and organizations to consider ways and means to increase the interoperability of existing information resources, including databases and networks, of use in conducting risk and/or impact assessments and in developing early warning systems;
8.Recalling decisions VI/23*, VII/13, VII/27 and IX/4, and recognizing the need to further facilitate and enhance the implementation of these decisions, particularly regarding the issue of mobility of people and goods referred therein, requests the Executive Secretary to follow-up with the secretariats of the bodies referred to those decisions, as well as the other biodiversity-related multilateral environmental agreements and regional organizations, as appropriate, taking into account also additional introduction pathways such as hunting and fishing, and the management of already established invasive alien species and threats from invasive alien genotypes;
9.Further requests the Executive Secretary to:
(a)Compile and distribute existing information (including guidelines on invasive alien species, possible examples of their management and related management responses) reconciling the need for adaptation of biodiversity and ecosystems to climate change as well as the need to prevent and minimize the risks of existing and potential invasive alien species and provide such information to Parties in all United Nations languages subject to available funding, through the clearing-house mechanism of the Convention and other means;
(b)Promote transboundary cooperation on the management of invasive alien species, in particular in river basins;
(c)Incorporate the progress and lessons learned on regional island collaboration to manage the threat of invasive alien species, including inter- and intra-regional exchanges and South-South cooperation, in the review of the programme of work on island biological diversity scheduled for the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties;
(d)Ensure full and effective participation and of indigenous and local communities in addressing issues of invasive alien species for the purpose of utilizing the traditional knowledge;
10.Welcomes the participation of the secretariats of the International Plant Protection Convention, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the World Trade Organization, the International Maritime Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, as well as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Global Invasive Species Programme, in the inter-agency liaison group on invasive alien species, and encourages these organizations, as well as the International Civil Aviation Organization, to continue their collaboration with the Executive Secretary in line with paragraph 11 of decision IX/4 A;
11.Welcomes the responses from the secretariats of the International Plant Protection Convention, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the World Trade Organization and the Committee on Fisheries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to the invitations to these bodies in, respectively, paragraphs 2, 3, 4 and 5 decision IX/4 A, setting out how they may address particular gaps and inconsistencies in the international regulatory framework on invasive alien species;
12.Recalling paragraph 6 of decision IX/4 A, urges Parties and other Governments to pursue these issues formally through their national delegations to these organizations;
13.Requests the Executive Secretary to report on progress on these matters, to the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice at a meeting prior to the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties.

Annex

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE AD HOC TECHNICAL EXPERT GROUP ON ADDRESSING THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF ALIEN SPECIES AS PETS, AQUARIUM AND TERRARIUM SPECIES, AND AS LIVE BAIT AND LIVE FOOD

1.In paragraph 2 of its decision X/38, the Conference of the Parties established an ad hoc technical expert group to suggest ways and means, including, inter alia, providing scientific and technical information, advice and guidance, on the possible development of standards by appropriate bodies that can be used at an international level to avoid spread of invasive alien species that current international standards do not cover, to address the identified gaps and to prevent the impacts and minimize the risks associated with the introduction of invasive alien species as pets, aquarium and terrarium species, as live bait and live food with the present terms of reference; and expressed its appreciation to the Government of Spain for providing the financial assistance for the organization of the AHTEG.
2.More specifically, the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group will identify and consider relevant, specific, and concrete tools, voluntary codes of practice, methodologies, guidance, best-practice examples and instruments, including possible regulatory mechanisms, for addressing the risks associated with the introduction of alien species as pets, aquarium and terrarium species, and as live bait and live food, including for:
(a)Controlling, monitoring, and prohibiting, where appropriate, export, import and transit, at local, national, and regional levels, taking into account national legislations, where applicable;
(b)Controlling internet trade, associated transport, and other relevant pathways;
(c)Developing and utilizing risk assessments and risk management;
(d)Developing and utilizing early-detection and rapid response systems;
(e)Regulating the export, import and transit of potentially invasive alien species traded as pets likely to be released;
(f)Public awareness-raising and information dissemination;
(g)Transboundary and where appropriate, regional cooperation and approaches.
3.In addition, the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group will consider ways to increase the interoperability of existing information resources including databases and networks, of use in conducting risk and/or impact assessments and in developing early-detection and rapid response systems.
4.The Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group will make its suggestions drawing on:
(a)Information provided by, inter alia, Parties, other Governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector, relevant national, regional, and international organizations, and secretariats of relevant international conventions;
(b)Information gathered at the expert workshop on best practices for pre-import screening of live animals in international trade,97 held in Indiana, United States of America, from 9 to 11 April 2008;
(c)The TEMATEA issue-based module on invasive alien species;
(d)International, national and regional databases on invasive alien species;
(e)Sections II and III of the note by the Executive Secretary on further work on gaps and inconsistencies in the international regulatory framework on invasive alien species, particularly species introduced as pets, aquarium and terrarium species, as live bait and live food, and best practices for addressing the risks associated with their introduction;98
(f)Other relevant scientifically-sound information, particularly information from scientific experts, universities, and relevant institutions.
5.The Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group will be established in accordance with the procedures outlined in the consolidated modus operandi of SBSTTA (decision VIII/10, annex III) taking into account the need to draw upon the experience of relevant international organizations, including the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the World Trade Organization (WTO-SPS), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the World Customs Organization; the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), organizations managing databases on invasive alien species, industry organizations and Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP).
6.The Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group will meet as required to complete its task, subject to the availability of financial resources, and also work through correspondence and teleconferences.
7.The Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group will report to a meeting of SBSTTA prior to the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
95 UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/14/16/Rev.1.
96 UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/14/INF/29.
* One representative entered a formal objection during the process leading to the adoption of this decision and underlined that he did not believe that the Conference of the Parties could legitimately adopt a motion or a text with a formal objection in place. A few representatives expressed reservations regarding the procedure leading to the adoption of this decision (see UNEP/CBD/COP/6/20, paras. 294-324).
97 UNEP/CBD/COP/9/INF/32/Add.1.
98 UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/14/16/Rev.1.

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