Notification 2014-098

Dear Madam/Sir, I have the honour to inform you that the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties (COP-MOP) to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization will be held concurrently with the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, from 13 to 17 October 2014. The provisional agenda of the meeting, as approved by the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol, is attached. The annotated agenda and other pre-session documentation will be made available as soon as practicable and, in any case, no later than six weeks prior to the meeting. The pre-session documents and information for participants will be accessible at: http://www.cbd.int/doc/?meeting=NP-MOP-01. Please be advised that access and benefit-sharing will also be considered as part of the agenda of COP 12. It is foreseen that, under agenda item 10 “Status of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization”, the COP will be invited to consider referring remaining work outlined in the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol, in particular on cooperative procedures and institutional mechanisms to promote compliance with the Nagoya Protocol and address cases of non-compliance (Article 30), to a contact group in order to advance work on these issues prior to COP-MOP 1. In addition, thanks to the generous contribution of the European Union, a capacity-building workshop on the pilot phase of the Access and Benefit-Sharing Clearing-House will be held on 12 October 2014 in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea. The programme containing the objectives and methodology of the workshop will be made available in due course. I would invite you to keep these considerations in mind when planning your travel to Pyeongchang. In accordance with rules 6 and 7 of the Rules of Procedure for meetings of the Conference of the Parties, which apply mutatis mutandis to the meetings of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol, the meeting is open to organizations and agencies, whether governmental or non-governmental, qualified in fields relating to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, which have informed the Secretariat of their wish to be represented at the meeting. Registration of representatives from these organizations is subject to the receipt by the Secretariat of an official letter from the Chief Executive or President of the organization. The letter must indicate the list of names, the head of delegation, the titles and contacts of the delegates to the meeting and should be received by the Secretariat by 15 September 2014. We look forward to your participation in this important event. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: International and non-governmental organizations, indigenous and local communities and relevant Stakeholders