1. What is a Clearing-House?

The term "clearing-house" was originally used mainly in the banking sector, where it referred to a financial establishment where checks and bills were exchanged among member banks so that only the net balances needed to be settled in cash. Today, its meaning has been extended to include any agency that brings together seekers and providers of goods, services or information, thus matching demand with supply.

2. What is the Biosafety Clearing-House of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety?

Article 20, paragraph 1, of the Biosafety Protocol established a Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) to:

(a) Facilitate the exchange of scientific, technical, environmental and legal information on, and experience with, living modified organisms; and

(b) Assist Parties to implement the Protocol, taking into account the special needs of developing country Parties, in particular the least developed and small island developing States among them, and countries with economies in transition, as well as countries that are centers of origin and centers of genetic diversity.

In addition to facilitating general exchange of information, the BCH is established as the only means through which Parties can provide certain information required under the Protocol, including information provided by Parties for the advance informed agreement procedure. The BCH will also provide the mechanism by which Parties are informed about final decisions regarding domestic use (including placing on the market) of LMOs that may be subject to transboundary movement for food, feed or for processing. This information will be vital for enabling governments to implement the Protocol; i.e. the BCH is an integral part of implementing the Biosafety Protocol. Further information about the BCH is available on the Biosafety Protocol home page.

3. What is the Clearing House Mechanism (CHM) of the Convention on Biological Diversity?

The CHM was established under Article 18, paragraph 3, of the Convention. The role of the CHM is broader than that of the BCH: it promotes and facilitates technical and scientific cooperation, including cooperation in the development and use of relevant technologies, training of personnel and exchange of experts, joint research programmes and joint ventures, and participates in the work of the thematic areas under the Convention. Further information about the CHM is available on the CBD website.

4. What is the difference between the Biosafety Clearing-House and the Clearing-House Mechanism?

The main difference between the BCH and the CHM is that it is an obligation for all Contracting Parties to use the BCH as the only recognized means to make available information required under the Protocol. The BCH serves a fundamental and basic function of the Protocol and the Parties could not implement the Protocol without the BCH. The CHM, on the other hand, is a mechanism established to facilitate Parties to cooperate technically and scientifically, but it is not mandatory for them to use the CHM in order to do so.

5. Who can access and use the information in the BCH?

Information in the Biosafety Clearing-House is open and accessible to all users. However, use of the Management Center to register information on the system is restricted to officially nominated Government representatives. More details on how to register information using the Management Center are available in Module 3 of the Tool Kit (Registering information Online). The Management Center is protected from unauthorized registration through a secure system of information exchange called Secure Socket Layer.

6. What key information is available in the BCH and how do I find it?

The navigation bar for the Central Portal is located on the left side of the screen, and will remain available whenever you are in the Biosafety Clearing-House. Information accessible through the Central Portal is divided into broad headings (‘Home’, ‘About this site’, ‘News’, ‘National contacts’, ‘Laws and regulations’, ‘Decision information’, ‘Capacity-building’, ‘Related Links’, ‘Tool kit’, ‘Help’, ‘Management Center’ and ‘Contact us’). Further information about searching for information is available in Module 1 of the Tool kit.

7. How do I get further information about a record I found in the BCH?

Please contact the designated contact person, or the National Focal Point for the country that owns a record if you would like further information that is not available through the BCH. In some cases, there are links to national databases and existing National BCHs.

8. How can I get my information posted in the BCH?

If you are a National Focal Point, you should contact the CBD Secretariat to obtain a BCH User ID and a password. Other participants in the BCH should contact their National Focal Point or the Secretariat for assistance.

9. Are NGOs, private companies, research institutions and other entities allowed to post their information in the BCH?

Some types of information, for example capacity building projects and other initiatives, as well as the information on biosafety-related websites, can be posted by any entity that has such information, through the Secretariat. However, most of the information can be registered in the BCH only by the governments’ designated representatives and the Secretariat.

10. Why are common formats and controlled vocabulary necessary?

Common formats specify how to present and organize certain categories of information. They act as well-defined descriptors, giving users a standard means to search and retrieve information. And because all descriptors will contain similar information, it is possible to link them to an index or search engine.

Without common formats, it would be difficult and time-consuming to create search mechanisms for the Biosafety Clearing-House. It would be necessary to search the entire document for the needed information. Imagine the difficulty when using multiple languages. Even more, information located on remote web sites could not be effectively integrated into the system. Computer systems need to adhere to common protocols and formats to facilitate the exchange of information. For more information, see Module 5 of the Toolkit.

11. What is metadata?

Metadata offers description of the content, quality, condition, authorship, and any other characteristics of the object or data. Metadata is most commonly defined as "structured data about data" or "data which describes attributes of a resource" or, more simply, "information about data". It also provides for standardized representation of information. See Module 5 of the Toolkit for more information.

13. I am a new user, accessing the BCH for the first time. Where should I go?

Start with the Introduction. For additional information on the specific topic of your interest, go to the Central Portal.

14. I have been designated by my government to be the BCH National focal Point. This is my first visit to the BCH. Where should I start?

The information on your role and on how to get access to the Management Center is available at the Registering Information Online (Module 3). Before you start, we suggest that you get familiar with the BCH in general, through the Introduction and the Central Portal.