Notification 2014-045

Dear Madam/Sir, The purpose of this notification is to invite Parties to participate in the pilot phase of the Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House (ABS Clearing-House) and to submit views on issues related to participation of indigenous and local communities in the ABS Clearing-House in accordance with recommendation 3/4 on the Modalities of Operation of the ABS Clearing-House adopted by the third meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization. 1. Designation of the publishing authority for the ABS Clearing-House and national authorized users In paragraph 3 of recommendation 3/4, Parties were invited to designate a publishing authority and/or one or more national authorized users with a view to having a fully functional ABS Clearing-House by the time of entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol. Against this background, a common format has been prepared for the pilot phase for designating both the ABS Clearing-House publishing authority (PA) and national authorized users (NAUs). • The PA will be responsible for publishing all national records in the ABS Clearing-House. The duties of the focal point for the Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol (ICNP focal point) could be expanded to incorporate this role. • NAUs will prepare draft records for their publication in the ABS Clearing-House by the publishing authority. NAUs can be designated by ICNP focal points or the publishing authority by providing the name and e-mail of the NAU to the Secretariat. Each Party can designate as many national authorized users as they wish. The common format is available in the Annex to this notification and on the ABS Clearing-House, under the “Register information” heading (https://absch.cbd.int/register). Please ensure that the fields of the common format marked with an asterisk, which are mandatory, are duly completed in the common format. This common format can only be submitted offline and registration can only be done by the Secretariat upon official written communication from the ICNP Focal Point. Once the common format is completed it should be sent preferably by e-mail to secretariat@cbd.int, by fax at +1 514-288-6855 or alternatively by postal mail to: Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity 413 Saint-Jacques Street, Suite 800 Montreal, Quebec, H2Y 1N9 Canada In paragraph 4 of recommendation 3/4, all Parties, in particular those that have ratified the Nagoya Protocol, are encouraged to participate in the pilot phase of the ABS Clearing-House by publishing national records, including permits or equivalents constituting an internationally recognized certificate of compliance, and to provide feedback to the Executive Secretary. Parties will need to have designated a publishing authority in order to publish national records. Parties are invited to provide feedback on the pilot phase of the ABS Clearing-House by e-mail to the following address: absch@cbd.int. 2. Submission of views on the participation of indigenous and local communities in the ABS Clearing-House In preparation for the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol and in accordance with paragraph 10 of recommendation 3/4, Parties, other Governments, international organizations, indigenous and local communities, and relevant stakeholders were invited to submit to the Executive Secretary views on: (i) The possible functions of a competent authority of indigenous and local communities and of a contact point for the indigenous and local communities for the Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House in relation to the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol; (ii) The possible role and responsibilities of the competent authority and contact point referred to in paragraph (i) above, with respect to the Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House; and (iii) Who should be responsible for submitting the information on these authorities to the Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing House. In light of the above, views should be sent to the Executive Secretary, by e-mail to secretariat@cbd.int, as soon as possible but no later than 15 June 2014. A synthesis of the views submitted will be prepared by the Executive Secretary for consideration by the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD and ICNP Focal Points