Notification 2014-002

Dear Madam/Sir, In its decision XI/1D, paragraph 1, the Conference of the Parties requested the Executive Secretary, in collaboration with relevant organizations and subject to the availability of financial resources, to continue organizing capacity-building and development activities to support the ratification, early entry into force and implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization. I am pleased to inform you that, with funding support from the Government of the Republic of Korea and the European Union, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity is organizing a regional capacity-building workshop on the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing for Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia to be held in Minsk, Belarus from 31 March to 4 April 2014. The workshop will include a one-day training session on the pilot phase of the Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House. The objective of the workshop is to promote awareness of the core provisions of the Protocol and strengthen the capacity of participating countries to undertake the necessary steps to ratify/accede to the Protocol and prepare for its effective implementation, with a view to contributing to the achievement of Aichi Biodiversity Target 16, i.e. to have the Nagoya Protocol in force and operational, consistent with national legislation, by 2015. Accordingly, I have the pleasure to invite your Govedrnment to nominate one participant who is directly involved in national processes for the ratification and implementation of the Nagoya Protocol to take part in the workshop. The nomination should be in the form of an official letter to the CBD Executive Secretary, signed by the CBD Focal Point or a senior government official, along with the attached registration form duly completed. The nomination letter and the registration form should be submitted as soon as possible, but no later than 14 February 2014, either by e-mail to secretariat@cbd.int or by fax to +1 514 288 6588. Subject to the availability of funds, the Secretariat will support the participation of one participant from each of the developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition. This will include an economy ticket to the workshop and daily subsistence allowance (DSA) for the duration of the workshop. Further details regarding the workshop, including the agenda and other documents, will be made available on the meeting website (http://www.cbd.int/doc/?meeting=ABSCBW-CEE-02) in due course. The workshop will be held in English and Russian. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD Focal Points of Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia (The former Yugoslav Republic of), Montenegro, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan