The meetings addressed capacity building for: enforcement of national biosafety frameworks; implementation of the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress; and research and information exchange on socio-economic impacts of Living Modified Organisms (LMOs).
8 July 2011: The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has released the reports of the Seventh Coordination Meeting for Governments and Organizations Implementing or Funding Biosafety Capacity-Building Activities, and the Eighth Meeting of the Liaison Group on Capacity-Building for Biosafety.
The Seventh Coordination Meeting was attended by 30 participants from governments and organizations, and focused on: capacity-building for enforcement of national biosafety regulatory frameworks; capacity-building needs and initiatives relating to the implementation of the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress; and an update on the next comprehensive review of the Action Plan for Building Capacities for the Effective Implementation of the Protocol and the Coordination Mechanism.
On capacity-building for enforcement of national biosafety regulatory frameworks, participants recommended, inter alia: taking stock of existing capacities and assessing capacity-building needs; sharing existing materials or guidance documents on biosafety inspection enforcement through the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH); inviting relevant organizations to develop training or guidance materials and organize training workshops; and establishing regional or subregional networks or online forums to facilitate exchange of information, experience and resource materials.
On capacity-building for the Supplementary Protocol, participants discussed needs for implementing the Protocol’s individual provisions and made general recommendations, including: developing an explanatory guide to the Protocol; compiling and sharing information on existing national liability and redress laws, administrative approaches and case studies through the BCH; holding seminars and workshops to raise awareness of the Protocol; and providing training for the review and amendment of existing liability and redress law or the development of new ones.
The Eighth Liaison Group meeting considered: organization of a workshop on capacity-building for research and information exchange on socio-economic impacts of living modified organisms (LMOs) and related activities; and the second comprehensive review of the Action Plan for Building Capacities for the Effective Implementation of the Biosafety Protocol.
The Coordination Meeting was held from 4-6 April 2011, and the Liaison Group Meeting from 7-8 April 2011, both in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova. [Coordination Meeting Report] [Liaison Group Meeting Report]