Notification 2010-152

Meeting of the Interregional Negotiating Group (ING) on Access and Benefit-sharing, Montreal, 18 - 21 September 2010

Dear Madam/Sir, At the conclusion of the second part of its ninth meeting, held in Montreal, Canada, from 10-16 July 2010, the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing (WGABS) decided to reconvene the Interregional Negotiating Group (ING) in order to continue negotiations on the draft Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing and to submit the results to the Working Group at its resumed ninth meeting to be held in Nagoya, Japan, on 16 October 2010. The ING will again be chaired by Timothy Hodges and Fernando Casas, Co-Chairs of the Working Group. The mandate of the ING as decided by the Working Group is to further negotiate the text of the Draft Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity found in the Annex to the report of the resumed ninth meeting of the Working Group (document UNEP/CBD/COP/10/5/Ad.4) and available on the Secretariat website at: http://www.cbd.int/meetings/. The information note containing the details of the venue of the meeting and other logistical information will be made available as soon as possible. In the absence of a formal offer by a host country, I am pleased to confirm that thanks to financial support provided by Japan, the Interregional Negotiating Group on Access and Benefit-sharing will reconvene in Montreal on 18 – 21 September 2010. The meeting will be preceded by one day of regional consultations and informal bilateral consultations with the ABS Co-Chairs on 17 September 2010. Participants wishing to meet with the Co-Chairs are hereby invited to so inform the Secretariat, which will confirm the exact time of the meeting in due course. Indigenous and local community organizations are invited to nominate a representative to attend the meeting. Designation of representatives, containing their name and contact details, should be submitted through official letters to be addressed to the Executive Secretary of the Secretariat by fax to +1 514 288 6588, or by email as a scanned attachment to: secretariat@cbd.int, by 27 August 2010. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: Indigenous and local community organizations

2010-08-10

Action required by 2010-08-27

Subject(s): Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-sharing