Notification 2011-151

Dear Madam/Sir, I am pleased to inform you that a signing ceremony for the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization which opened for signature on 2 February 2011 will take place on 20 September 2011 at the margins of the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The signing ceremony will take place in the Lobby area on the main floor of the General Assembly building from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. To date 41 Parties have signed the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization. Parties who wish to take the opportunity of this event to sign the Protocol should contact the Treaty Section of the Office of Legal Affairs at the United Nations Headquarters to make the necessary arrangements, at Treaty Section of the Office of Legal Affairs, 380 Madison Avenue, New York, Tel: (212) 963-5047; Facsimile: (212) 963-3693 or via email: damas@un.org. The signing ceremony will be followed by a reception with the Heads of Delegation attending the United Nations General Assembly to mark the celebration of the United Nations Decade on Desertification, the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity as well as the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of the Global Environment Facility – the financial mechanism of the three Rio Conventions. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD National Focal Points, ABS Focal Points