Rules of procedure for meetings of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol

The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety,

Noting that, according to Article 29, paragraph 5, of the Protocol, the rules of procedure of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention shall be applied, mutatis mutandis, under the Protocol, except as may be otherwise decided by consensus by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol,

Recognizing that, when the rules of procedure of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention are applied mutatis mutandis under the Protocol, Articles 29, 30 and 31 of the Protocol, in particular, will affect the application of the rules of procedure to the Conference of the Parties serving as meeting of the Parties to the Protocol,

Decides by consensus that:

1. When rule 21 of the rules of the procedure for meetings of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention is applied to the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol, this rule shall be supplemented by the following paragraph:

   "Where a member of the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention representing a Party to the Convention but, at that time, not a Party to the Protocol, is substituted by a member elected by and from among the Parties to the Protocol, the term of office of the substitute member shall expire at the same time as the term of office of the member of the Bureau he or she substitutes."

2. When the rules of procedure of the Conference of the Parties of the Convention are amended by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, those amendments shall not apply to the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol, unless otherwise decided by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol.