Notification 2019-019

Dear Madam/Sir, In accordance with Article 33 of the Cartagena Protocol, Parties shall, at intervals to be determined by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP), report to the COP-MOP on measures taken to implement the Protocol. In decision CP-9/5, the COP-MOP adopted the reporting format and requested Parties to use it for the fourth national report on the implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The COP-MOP requested Parties and invited other Governments to submit their fourth national report twelve months prior to the tenth meeting of the COP-MOP, which will consider the report. Accordingly, Parties are invited to submit their fourth national report, no later than 1 October 2019, in an official language of the United Nations. At this stage, Parties are encouraged to use the offline reporting format, available in the annex to decision CP-9/5 (https://www.cbd.int/decisions/mop/?m=cp-mop-09), to organize and record the information required for the fourth national report. In due course, an online version of the reporting format will be made available for the purposes of submitting completed fourth national reports to the Secretariat through the Biosafety Clearing-House. National Focal Points with limited internet access may submit the completed offline form in Microsoft Word format directly to the Secretariat, as an attachment to an e-mail together with a scanned copy of the first page signed by the National Focal Point. The COP-MOP, in its decision CP-9/5, invited Parties to prepare their reports through a consultative process involving all relevant national stakeholders, including indigenous peoples and local communities, as appropriate. It encouraged Parties to respond to all questions in the reporting format and stressed the importance of the timely submission of the fourth national reports in order to facilitate the fourth assessment and review of the effectiveness of the Cartagena Protocol and the final evaluation of the Strategic Plan for the Cartagena Protocol. In decision CP-9/1, the COP-MOP encouraged Parties to use the free-text fields in the reporting format to explain responses provided, and invited Parties that are facing challenges in complying with certain obligations to share information on the challenges encountered and those Parties that have made progress in complying with certain obligations to share relevant information in the free-text fields. The Global Environment Facility has been invited to support eligible Parties in the preparation and submission of their fourth national reports under the Protocol. Further information regarding the availability of such funding will be made available in due course. Thank you for your continued cooperation and support towards the work of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: Cartagena Protocol National Focal Points, CBD National Focal Points (where CPB Focal Points have not yet been designated), BCH Focal Points