8 November 2011: The International Symposium on the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP 5) focused on the significance of the new Protocols on biosafety and access and benefit-sharing (ABS).

Held on 15 March 2011, in Tokyo, Japan, the Symposium addressed the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on liability and redress under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits.

The report of the Symposium, issued on 8 November 2011, provides a detailed account of the three parts of the symposium: negotiation and adoption of the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol; the Biosafety Protocol regime and implementation of the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol; and the Nagoya Protocol on ABS. Panelists, who had been involved in negotiating the two Protocols, provided observations on the negotiating process, the significance of the Protocols and challenges regarding their implementation. [Symposium Report]