Decision COP X/38

Pursuant to paragraph 10 of its decision IX/4,

1. Takes note of the information compiled by the Executive Secretary for addressing invasive alien species introduced as pets, aquarium and terrarium species, as live bait and live food, as summarized in the note prepared for the fourteenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice;

2. Establishes an ad hoc technical expert group (AHTEG) to suggest ways and means, including, inter alia, providing scientific and technical information, advice and guidance, on the possible development of standards by appropriate bodies that can be used at an international level to avoid spread of invasive alien species that current international standards do not cover, to address the identified gaps and to prevent the impacts and minimize the risks associated with the introduction of invasive alien species as pets, aquarium and terrarium species, as live bait and live food with the terms of reference annexed hereto; and expresses its appreciation to the Government of Spain for providing the financial assistance for the organization of the Expert Group;

3. Requests the Executive Secretary:

4. Recognizes the critical importance of regional collaboration to address the threat of invasive alien species, particularly as a means to enhance ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change;

5. Welcomes the report of the workshop “Helping Islands Adapt: A Workshop on Regional Action to Combat Invasive Alien Species on Islands to Preserve Biodiversity and Adapt to Climate Change” held in Auckland, New Zealand, from 11 to 16 April 2010 and referred to in decisions IX/4 and IX/21;

6. Recognizing the threats to biodiversity of existing and potentially new invasive alien species, urges Parties and encourages other Governments to apply the precautionary approach with regards to the introduction, establishment and spread of invasive alien species, for agricultural and biomass production, including biofuel feedstocks, and for carbon sequestration, following the guiding principles on invasive alien species contained in the annex to decision VI/23;

7. Encourages Parties and invites other Governments and organizations to consider ways and means to increase the interoperability of existing information resources, including databases and networks, of use in conducting risk and/or impact assessments and in developing early warning systems;

8. Recalling decisions VI/23, VII/13, VIII/27 and IX/4, and recognizing the need to further facilitate and enhance the implementation of these decisions, particularly regarding the issue of mobility of people and goods referred therein, requests the Executive Secretary to follow-up with the secretariats of the bodies referred to those decisions, as well as the other biodiversity-related multilateral environmental agreements and regional organizations, as appropriate, taking into account also additional introduction pathways such as hunting and fishing, and the management of already established invasive alien species and threats from invasive alien genotypes;

9. Further requests the Executive Secretary to:

10. Welcomes the participation of the secretariats of the International Plant Protection Convention, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the World Trade Organization, the International Maritime Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, as well as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Global Invasive Species Programme, in the inter-agency liaison group on invasive alien species, and encourages these organizations, as well as the International Civil Aviation Organization, to continue their collaboration with the Executive Secretary in line with paragraph 11 of decision IX/4 A;

11.Welcomes the responses from the secretariats of the International Plant Protection Convention, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the World Trade Organization and the Committee on Fisheries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to the invitations to these bodies in, respectively, paragraphs 2, 3, 4 and 5 decision IX/4 A, setting out how they may address particular gaps and inconsistencies in the international regulatory framework on invasive alien species;

12. Recalling paragraph 6 of decision IX/4 A, urges Parties and other Governments to pursue these issues formally through their national delegations to these organizations;

13. Requests the Executive Secretary to report on progress on these matters, to the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice at a meeting prior to the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties.