Notification 2016-008

Dear Madam/Sir, Reference is made to notification 2015-139 of 2 December 2015 inviting Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations and indigenous peoples and local communities to peer review the outcomes of the process in response to decision XII/24 on synthetic biology, for consideration by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) at its twentieth meeting to be held in Montreal, Canada from 25 to 29 April 2016. The reports for peer review are available at http://bch.cbd.int/synbio/peer-review and include: (a) Updated report and synthesis of views in response to paragraph 7(b) of decision XII/24; and (b) Report of the meeting of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Synthetic Biology. National Focal Points to the Convention are kindly requested to coordinate views nationally prior to submission on behalf of Parties and other Governments. Only official submissions will be accepted on behalf of organizations. Submissions must be sent to the Secretariat via e-mail to synbio@cbd.int no later than 31 January 2016. All submissions received through this peer-review process will be made available online and, along the aforementioned reports, will be taken into account in preparing the relevant documentation for the twentieth meeting of SBSTTA. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD National Focal Points; SBSTTA National Focal Points, Cartagena Protocol National Focal Points, Nagoya Protocol Focal Points, relevant organizations; and indigenous peoples and local communities