The UN Environment Programme and the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change of Seychelles held the first national Biosafety Clearing Housing capacity-building workshop in the country in order to provide an in-depth understanding of the Biosafety Clearing Housing mechanisms. Currently, there are 76 developing countries and countries with economies in transition that are parties to the Biosafety Clearing Housing global project, and that have benefited from demonstrations on how to find information in the Biosafety Clearing Housing, register information, as well as be informed about how to manage information shared on the project’s portal.
Held in April 2019, the meeting brought together government representatives, industries, importers, producers, distributers, researchers, non-governmental organizations, civil society groups, and both print and broadcast media. UN Environment provided the participants with key information on the common format of the Biosafety Clearing Housing records, the procedures for registering and publishing biosafety-related decisions, the technical national Biosafety Clearing Housing responsibilities, and the impact on the institutional processes for creating and registering information.
The key stakeholders were trained on national Biosafety Clearing Housing responsibilities under the Cartagena Protocol, and provided with a clear understanding of the common formats of the Biosafety Clearing Housing records and their impact on the institutional processes for creating and registering information and making sound biosafety decisions, such as registering and publishing decisions.
According to Ossama AbdelKawy, an anglophone Africa regional specialist, Article 20 of the Protocol establishes a mechanism to enhance communication and information-sharing between parties to the Protocol, so that each country that has ratified the Protocol can refer to other countries’ decisions and laws put in place to implement the Cartagena Protocol.
UN Environment gives stakeholders opportunities to explore supplementary protocols on liability and redress. Stakeholders can obtain access to training materials which they can use in their respective institutions in drawing up a procedure or framework that will allow for the transparent and efficient flow of information on genetically modified organisms and living modified organisms.
The meeting successfully achieved the following milestones:
- A review of the completeness and accuracy of basic national records
- Establishment of recommendations on strengthening the existing national procedures and operational linkages for inclusion on Biosafety Clearing Housing
For more information, please contact: rami.abdel-malik[at]un.org I Niamh.Brannigan[at]un.org I Catherine.Abuto[at]un.org
