At its
seventh meeting, the COP-MOP took note of the
report of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Socio-economic Considerations (AHTEG). In
decision BS-VII/13, Parties extended the AHTEG and determined that it should work, in a stepwise approach, on: (i) the further development of conceptual clarity on socio-economic considerations arising from the impact of living modified organisms on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, and (ii) developing an outline for guidance with a view to making progress towards achieving operational objective 1.7 of the Strategic Plan and its outcomes.
Parties also requested the Executive Secretary to:
(a)To compile and disseminate information on: (i) policies, laws, regulations and guidelines providing for definitions of socio-economic considerations; and (ii) practical applications of socio-economic considerations in decision-making on living modified organisms, including cases where positive and negative socio-economic impacts have been considered;
(b)To convene online discussion groups to facilitate the exchange of views, information and experiences on socio-economic considerations in the context of paragraph 1 of Article 26 of the Protocol, including concerning: international obligations that may be relevant to socio-economic considerations; socio-economic considerations and the value of biological diversity to indigenous and local communities; environment-related aspects of socio-economic considerations, as well as the relationship, if any, with risk assessment and human health-related issues;
(c)To compile and prepare a synthesis of the views and comments referred to in paragraph 4 above for consideration by the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Socio-economic Considerations, and;
(d)To commission, subject to the availability of funds, a study on international agreements that may have relevance to socio-economic considerations as provided for in Article 26 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and to make the report available on the Biosafety Clearing-House.
The documents prepared in response to the request are available
here. The online discussions were held from 30 March to 7 May 2015. A full transcript is available
here.
Due to the lack of sufficient funding to organize a face-to-face meeting of the AHTEG an on-line discussion was held from 9 May to 17 June 2016 to enable the AHTEG to undertake certain aspects of its mandate, focusing in particular on the further development of conceptual clarity. Through the online discussion, the AHTEG agreed on a revised Framework for Conceptual Clarity.
The outcomes and conclusions of the online discussion, including the revised Framework for Conceptual Clarity, were submitted to the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol in the annex to document
UNEP/CBD/BS/COP-MOP/MOP/8/13.
At its
eighth meeting, COP-MOP took note of the revised Framework for Conceptual Clarity and decided to extend the mandate of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Socio-Economic Considerations, replacing any experts, as needed, including indigenous peoples and local communities as observers, to allow it to meet face-to-face, subject to the availability of funds, to work on the guidelines envisaged under the outcomes for operational objective 1.7 of the Strategic Plan for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. In the same decision the COP-MOP urged Parties to provide the necessary funds for a face-to-face meeting of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Socio-Economic Considerations, ensuring the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities, supported by such online discussions as may be necessary to achieve its mandate. COP-MOP requested the AHTEG to submit a report for consideration by the COP-MOP at its ninth meeting.
