Notification 2023-079

Dear Madam/Sir, In decision CP-10/10, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety decided among other things, to establish an Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Risk Assessment to work in accordance with the terms of reference annexed to the decision. It also requested the Executive Secretary to commission the preparation of detailed outline of additional guidance materials on the risk assessment of living modified organisms containing engineered gene drives to be reviewed by the online forum as a base for the work of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group. In response to this request, the Secretariat commissioned the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology to draft the detailed outline of the additional voluntary guidance materials to support the case-by-case risk assessment of living modified organisms containing engineered gene drives. Accordingly, I am pleased to convene discussions of the Open-Ended Online Forum on Risk Assessment from 21 to 25 August 2023 to review the draft of the detailed outline with a view to facilitate the work of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Risk Assessment. Experts already nominated to the Online Forum held in April 2023 are automatically registered for the upcoming discussions and do need not to be re-nominated. Nominations of additional experts from Parties, other Governments, indigenous peoples and local communities, and relevant organizations for the online discussions may be submitted through the Cartagena Protocol National Focal Points or Heads of organizations, as appropriate, via an official letter sent by e-mail to secretariat@cbd.int, clearly indicating the name and e-mail address of each nominee and a brief description of their relevant experience in the field of risk assessment, organisms containing engineered gene drives and/or related fields. Nominations of experts to the Open-ended Online Forum on Risk Assessment and Risk Management must be received before 11 August 2023. Nominees will be subsequently contacted by the Secretariat to facilitate their registration and participation in the Open-ended Online Forum. The Online Forum is open to all interested participants, but they must be duly nominated and registered in order to contribute to the online discussions. Further information on the Online Forum, including the link to the draft detailed outline, will be provided in due course through the following link https://bch.cbd.int/portals/risk-assessment. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration

Acting Executive Secretary

To: Cartagena Protocol national focal points, CBD national focal points (where CPB focal points have not yet been designated), relevant organizations, and indigenous peoples and local communities, cc: SBSTTA National Focal Points