Information

MOP 5 Decision BS-V/4

BS-V/4.Roster of biosafety experts

The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety,
Recalling its decisions BS-I/4, BS-II/4, BS-III/4 and BS-IV/4,
Taking note of the report on the status and use of the roster of experts and of the pilot phase of the Voluntary Trust Fund for the Roster of Experts prepared by the Executive Secretary (UNEP/CBD/BS/COP-MOP/5/4/Add.2),
Emphasizing the important role of the roster of experts in assisting developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition to build their capacities for the effective implementation of the Protocol,
Noting the limited availability of resources to enable developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition to use experts from the roster,

I.Status and use of the roster of experts

1.Urges Governments that have not yet done so to nominate experts to the roster;
2.Reminds Parties and other Governments, in their nomination of experts to the roster, to take into account the need for gender balance and for balanced coverage of the different areas of expertise in the roster;
3.Urges Parties and other Governments to facilitate, where appropriate, the release of the experts on the roster, and in a timely and flexible manner, when they are selected by other Parties to undertake assignments under the Protocol;
4.Invites Parties and other Governments to submit to the Executive Secretary information regarding their experiences and challenges in nominating to and using experts from the roster of biosafety experts, as well as project future needs with the view to improving the nomination processes and the nomination form at least six months before the sixth meeting of the Parties;
5.Urges Parties and other Governments to raise the awareness of nominated experts of their obligations, as specified in the guidelines for the roster;
6.Requests the Executive Secretary, in preparation for the evaluation of the performance of the roster at the sixth meeting of the Parties, to review the experience with the use of the roster, identify the challenges faced and assess future needs of Parties, on the basis of the information provided by Parties and other Governments;
7.Also requests the Executive Secretary to propose, as appropriate, amendments to the nomination form based on the operational experience with the roster and the information submitted by Parties and other Governments in accordance with paragraph 4 above, for consideration by the Parties at their sixth meeting;

II.Pilot phase of the Voluntary Fund for the Roster

8.Commends the Government of Spain and the European Union for making contributions to the Voluntary Fund for the Roster of Experts;
9.Invites developed country Parties and other donors to make contributions to the Voluntary Fund to ensure full operationalization of the roster in order to facilitate implementation of the Strategic Plan for the Protocol (for the period 2011-2020);
10.Requests the Executive Secretary to propose, as appropriate, amendments to the Interim Guidelines for the Pilot Phase of the Voluntary Fund for the Roster of Experts based on the operational experience, for consideration by the Parties at their sixth meeting.