Notification 2014-073

Dear Madam/Sir, At its meeting held in October 2013 in Montreal, the Bureau of the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol (COP-MOP) endorsed a proposal by the Executive Secretary to convene a “Special Session on the Implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety” during the seventh meeting of the COP-MOP. The special session is intended to provide a platform for Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations to share views, experiences, and relevant information regarding the implementation of the Protocol, with a particular focus on experiences regarding the integration of biosafety into national biodiversity strategies and national plans (NBSAPs) and national development policies, plans and programmes as well as mobilization of resources to advance the implementation of the Protocol at the national level in line with the Strategic Plan for the Protocol 2011-2020. As part of the preparations for the special session, the Bureau recommended that a two-week online discussion forum be organized to allow for a preliminary exchange of information, experiences and suggestions regarding the above topics. A synthesis of the outcomes of the online forum would be made available as a background document to facilitate the discussions during the special session. Accordingly, I am pleased to invite all Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations to participate in the "Online Discussion on the Implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety", which will take place from 26 May to 7 June 2014 through the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) at: http://bch.cbd.int/onlineconferences/portal_art22/cbforum2014.shtml. To take part in the online discussions, participants would need to have a BCH user account. In case you do not have an account already, please go the top of the BCH website (http://bch.cbd.int) and sign up for one. Signed up participants wishing to participate in the discussions via e-mail can do so by choosing the icon 'watch' located at the bottom of the discussion threads. Subsequently, they will receive copies of all the posted messages via e-mail and their replies to the messages will be automatically posted to the respective discussion pages. If you have any questions regarding the forum please contact andrew.bowers@cbd.int. Thank you for your continued support towards the work of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: CPB and CBD National Focal Points, NBSAP Coordinators and relevant organizations