Notification 2021-024

Dear Madam/Sir, The purpose of this notification is to share information on the progress made to date with respect to the migration of the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) to its new platform and to encourage all BCH users to take part in testing the new platform. I am pleased to inform you that, further to decisions CP-VIII/2 and CP-9/2 of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the development of the new BCH platform, as well as the testing process, are well under way in accordance with the activities outlined in the chronogram (available at http://bch.cbd.int/). While it was not possible for the migration to be completed in June 2020 due to a number of challenges, including the complexity of the project, the Secretariat is aiming to launch the new BCH platform later this year. Detailed information on the work done to date on the migration is available in the documents prepared for the eleventh meeting of the Informal Advisory Committee (IAC) on the BCH, which was held from 1 to 4 December 2020. The documents, including the report of the meeting, are available on the CBD website at the following address: https://www.cbd.int/meetings/BCH-IAC-11. In addition, the testing site of the new platform is available to all – see https://bch.cbddev.xyz/ – and I encourage all BCH users to take part in testing the new BCH platform. The support and feedback of focal points and other BCH users are important in ensuring that the new BCH is a user-friendly informationsharing platform. For more information on the testing process and how to participate, please refer to the annex of notification 2020-039 issued on 8 June 2020. While work on the development of the new BCH continues, the current BCH platform remains operational and users should continue to publish information using this platform. Further information on the completion of the migration of the BCH and the launch of the new platform will be provided in due course. Thank you for your continued cooperation and support for 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 Cartagena Protocol Focal Points have not yet been designated), BCH Focal Points, relevant organizations