Biosafety Clearing-House - Latest News

Second Series of Regional Real-time Online Conferences on Risk Assessment and Risk Management (February 2010)

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:13:00 Z

Following up on a request by the Parties, the Secretariat launched in February the Second Series of Regional Real-time Online Conferences under the Open-ended Online Expert Forum on Risk Assessment and Risk Management. Two Real-time Online Conferences were held last week for Africa, and Asia and the Pacific regions. Two additional conferences will be held for WEOG and CEE, on 9 February (in English from 10:00 to 14:00 GMT) and for Latin America and the Caribbean, on 11 February (in Spanish from 15:00 to 19:00 GMT). All registered BCH Users may access the Real-time Online Conferences at as "Guests" to follow the discussions as they take place. The Real-time Online Conferences are accessible at http://bch.cbd.int/onlineconferences/realtime_ra.shtml .

Nouveau module du tutoriel du Centre d’échange pour la prévention des risques biotechnologiques (CEPRB) maintenant disponible en Français. // New BCH Tutorial module on Registering Information now available in French.

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:26:50 Z

Nouveau module du tutoriel du Centre d’échange pour la prévention des risques biotechnologiques (CEPRB) maintenant disponible en Français. // New BCH Tutorial module on Registering Information now available in French.

[English text at the bottom]

Le nouveau module du tutoriel du Centre d’échange pour la prévention des risques biotechnologiques (CEPRB) (Module 4) est maintenant disponible en Français dans la section "Enregistrement d'information" au http://bch.cbd.int/help/tutorial.shtml

Le nouveau module (disponible en formats MS PowerPoint, AVI, WMV et DVD) explique en détail comment enregistrer l'information dans le centre d'échange via le Centre de gestion nouvellement remanié.

Nous espérons que vous trouverez cet outil utile et le recommanderez à tous les utilisateurs du CEPRB.

Les versions Anglaise et Espagnole du tutoriel sont disponibles depuis le 27 novembre 2009 et sont accessibles au site web mentionné plus haut.

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The new BCH Tutorial module on the 'Registering Information’ section (Module 4).has now been made available in French at http://bch.cbd.int/help/tutorial.shtml

The new module (available in MS PowerPoint, AVI, WMV and DVD formats) explains in detail how to register information in the BCH through the newly revamped Management Centre.

We hope you will find this tool useful and recommend it to all BCH users.

English and Spanish versions of the tutorial were released on 27 November 2009 and are also accessible at the above website.

Invitation for comments on the updated Draft Elements of the Strategic Plan and Proposed Framework for the Second Assessment and Review of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety under Article 35

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:47:47 Z

An online Forum has been launched on the Biosafety Clearing-House, at http://bch.cbd.int/onlineconferences/spforum.shtml, which is designed to provide the opportunity for you to make comments on (1) the updated draft elements of the Strategic Plan and (2) the proposed framework for the second Assessment and Review of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety under Article 35. Both documents are available for download on the Forum website.

The Biosafety Clearing-House is now on Twitter!

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:10:43 Z

The BCH News are now also available on Twitter (at http://twitter.com/bchcpb)

Study of Users and Potential Users of the Biosafety Clearing-House

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:50:51 Z

A study of users and potential users of the BCH has been launched and a survey has been prepared as a part of this process. The survey will be available online at http://bch.cbd.int/resources/bch-survey/ for completion until 31 January 2010. All BCH users are encouraged to participate in this survey and share it with the widest range of users and potential users of the BCH.

Republic of Korea - Korean scientists produced genetically modified raw materials for nylon

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:49:15 Z

Korean scientists have discovered ways to produce putrescine from biomass such as glucose and sucrose. Further, the research team, led by Professor Sang Yup Lee at KAIST said that they have succeeded in modifying the bio-synthesis pathway of the bacterium E. coli to mass produce putrescine. The researchers relied on metabolic engineering to enable the E. coli strain consuming one kilogram of glucose to produce 170 grams of putrescine that is used to synthesize nylon and other chemicals.

* Metabolic Engineering refers to biotechnology that enables the directed modification of the metabolic pathway of cells or bacteria strains through techniques of molecular biology and chemical engineering. Metabolic engineering is widely used in a variety of biotechnological fields for the enhancement and suppression of the existing metabolites, production of new metabolites, decomposition of non-degradable organic compounds, and genetic isolation and purification of matters to improve processes.

August 31, 2009

Republic of Korea - Korea developed an RSV-resistant rice variety

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:48:20 Z

Korea’s Rural Development Administration (“RDA”) said in August 17 that it produced a rice variety that has been genetically modified to contain OsLRP, a gene tolerant to rice stripe tenuivirus (“RSV”). Generations of on-site greenhouse tests show that the expression of OsLRP in the variety has been stable. The RDA said that it would carry out the environmental hazard assessment of the RSV-resistant rice and apply for the variety registration following the mass breeding of the rice variety.

* Rice strip tenuivirus, transmitted by small brown grasshoppers (Laodelphax striatellus), is called the ‘rice AIDS.’ This chemical-resistant pest, once it attacks the rice field, substantially reduces the yield and decreases the crop quality. Last year alone, approximately 2,828 hectares of rice paddy was hit by the pest. Earlier last June, the damage caused to rice paddies in Seocheon and Seosan of the Chungnam province was found to be almost 40 times as severe as previous years.

August 17, 2009

Republic of Korea - Cloned pigs produced for use in human transplants

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:46:41 Z

Scientists backed by Korea’s Rural Development Administration have produced pig clones that have been genetically modified to express FasL(fas ligand), a human immune gene.
Professor Jin Dong-il from Chung Nam University and Korean bio-tech firm Mgen said that organs from their FasL-expressing cloned piglet, born on May 11, have fewer risks of rejection when transplanted into humans.
An organ from the piglet produced by Jin’s team, when transplanted into the human body, is known to be recognized as self, significantly reducing cellular toxicity. This achievement follows Xeno, a piglet born last April that has been genetically modified to lack the rejection-triggering gene.

August 11, 2009

New BCH Tutorial module on Registering Information now available (in English and Spanish)

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:53:02 Z

A new BCH Tutorial module on the 'Registering Information’ section is now available at http://bch.cbd.int/help/tutorial.shtml (Module 4).

The new module (available in MS PowerPoint, AVI and WMV formats) explains in detail how to register information in the BCH through the newly revamped Management Centre. We hope you will find this tool useful and recommend it to all BCH users.

Kindly note that this new Tutorial Module is currently available in English and Spanish. A French version is in preparation and we will notify through the 'BCH News' as soon as it has been made available.

Fifth Meeting of the BCH-IAC , 19-21 October 2009, Montreal, Canada

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:38:56 Z

The fifth meeting of the Informal Advisory Committee was convened by the Executive Secretary to seek guidance with respect to technical issues associated with the ongoing development of the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH). The meeting discussed the following items outlined in the provisional agenda: (i) Current status of the BCH; (ii) Assessment of recent BCH changes; (iii) Assessment of the BCH forum, activities and tools; (iv) Assessment of national and regional nodes; (v) Pending requests from the decisions of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety; (vi) Status of the UNEP-GEF BCH project extension; (vii) Draft Strategic Plan of the Cartagena Protocol focusing on the BCH component; and (vii) Future developments and challenges. The Summary Outcomes (http://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/bch/bchiac-05/official/bchiac-05-02-en.doc) reports conclusions and recommendations to the Executive Secretary for consideration in the implementation of the programme of work for the Biosafety Clearing-House.

Croatia - Upcoming TAIEX Workshop in Croatia: "Handling applications for release of GMOs into the environment and placing GMOs on the market"

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:39:11 Z

Workshop "Handling applications for release of GMOs into the environment and placing GMOs on the market" will be held from 12 to 13 November 2009 in Zagreb, Croatia. This workshop is organised by the European Commission, Technical Assistance Information Exchange Instrument (TAIEX), DG Enlargement and in co-operation with the Ministry of Culture, Nature Protection Directorate.

The aim of the workshop is to introduce national regulators, decision makers and the members of the biosafety scientific-advisory bodies (the Council for GMOs, the Committee for Release of GMOs into the environment and the Committee for contained use) to the procedure and steps in handling and reviewing the notifications and dossiers in order to take optimal decisions related to the introduction of GMOs into the environment and placing GMOs on the market.

This workshop has some particular objectives: to present in details Part B and Part C of the Directive of the EU (2001/18/EC) and their differences, to introduce in details the procedure of handling applications and dossiers, to facilitate better understanding of the procedure of conducting risk assessments, to improve knowledge on different current guidance on the risk assessment of GMOs (Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, EFSA guidelines, Biosafety Assessment Tool (BAT), etc.), to receive some information in regards to the field trials within the European Union, to increase knowledge on the risk management measures and learn about experience of the member states of the European Union on the post-market monitoring.

So far, 70 participants have been registered and 12 resource persons will have their presentations.

Saint Lucia - Horticulturist trained in Chile in GMO Detection

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:16:44 Z

From June 22nd - 24th 2009, Mr. Terrence Gilliard, a horticulturist in the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Fisheries and Forestry in Saint Lucia, responsible for the management of the Tissue Culture Laboratory, was trained in GMO detection skills, through a study tour of the various laboratories of the complex SAG in Chile.

Saint Lucia - Customs Officer selected to attend regional training on identification of LMOs

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:00:38 Z

Ms.Anita Pinky Alexander, a Customs Supervisor in Saint Lucia, was nominated by Saint Lucia and selected by the Biosafety Secretariat in Montreal, to attend training for the Latin American and Caribbean Region, on identification of LMOs, to be held in Mexico in November 2009.

Saint Lucia - Customs Officers trained in the use of the BCH

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:45:28 Z

Thirteen Customs Offices from the north of the island of Saint Lucia from various branches in the Customs and Excise Department of the country were trained in use of the BCH on Thursday the 8th October 2009.

Saint Lucia - National Consultation on draft Regional Biotechnology and Biosafety Policy

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:36:32 Z

Saint Lucia hosted a national consultation courtesy of the CARICOM Secretariat to discuss the draft regional biotechnology policy and strategy on the 6th October 2009

A new publication to help better understand the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:01:30 Z

The Secretariat is pleased to announce the publication of a new brochure entitled The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety: Reducing the Environmental Risks of Modern Biotechnology. The brochure is available in all the six official languages of the United Nations. It can be accessed on the CBD website at: http://www.cbd.int/programmes/outreach/awareness/publications.shtml?grp=cpb.

Two new Common Formats now available on line

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:40:57 Z

Two new Common Formats are now available on line:

- Biosafety Laws, Regulations, Guidelines & Regional and International Agreements

- Biosafety Organizations

Standard forms, also known as Common Formats, for the registration of information in the BCH are made available both online for direct registration (at http://bch.cbd.int/managementcentre/register.shtml) and offline for download (in MS Word format, at http://bch.cbd.int/resources/commonformats.shtml).

Release of new versions of the BCH Management Centre, Common Formats and FAQs

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:32:32 Z

A revamped version of the BCH Management Centre (at http://bch.cbd.int/managementcentre/ ) and 6 new common formats (at http://bch.cbd.int/resources/commonformats.shtml ) for registering information have been released. In addition, a new set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) has been made available in the Help section (at http://bch.cbd.int/help/faq.shtml ).

Republic of Korea - Sumagen has made a patent application for hepatitis C virus vaccine

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 05:21:23 Z

Researchers led by Dr. Kang Chil-yong at Canada’s University of Western Ontario have filed a worldwide patent application for the recombinant technology to make hepatitis C virus vaccine. The research team has been funded by Sumagen, the South Korean pharmaceutical venture focusing on vaccine development.

The genetically modified protein of the hepatitis C virus, which is in turn inserted to less dangerous pathogens, can act as an immunity booster.

Earlier this year, Sumagen and Dr. Kang’s research team have sought an application from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin human testing of SAV001, an AIDS vaccine candidate.

Dr. Kang and his coworkers said that, once given a green light, they would launch the first phase of human trials in Canada, enrolling AIDS patients with diminished immunity.

July 1, 2009

Republic of Korea - South Korean Researchers developed a human vaccine for H1N1

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 05:19:01 Z

South Korean researchers, led by professor Seo Sang-Hee of Chungnam National University's College of Veterinary Medicine said on May 18, 2009 that they developed the world’s first human vaccine to fight swine flu (H1N1), which is available for mass production The genetically modified vaccine, named CNUK-RG A/CA/4xPR/8 (H1N1), has been created two weeks after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided the standard swine flu virus that was made available by the World Health Organization.

Professor Seo and his team developed a human vaccine against the highly pathogenic avian flu (H5N1) last year. The CNUK-H5N1-08-01 vaccine has been found to be effective in the tests conducted on weasels.

The vaccine will be required to undergo a rigorous assessment to establish its safety and effectiveness before it reaches patients because what has been developed is just a candidate vaccine, says the Korea Drug and Food Administration.

Republic of Korea - A Genetically Modified Pig Cloned by Korean Researchers Opens Up Possibility of Organ Transplants

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 05:17:48 Z

Korean scientists have created a genetically modified pig whose organs can be used for transplantation into humans. They first separated the somatic cell (mesenchymal stem cell) gene from a mini pig and then removed one of the two genes (alpha-1, 3-Galactosyltransferase) from the somatic cell. The cell was then implanted into a surrogate mother. The researchers disclosed that a healthy cloned piglet was born on April 3. The scientists include the late Lee Kyung-kwang (the Korea Biotech R&D Group of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology), Park Su-bong (the National Institute of Animal Science), Shim Ho-sup (Dankook University), Kim Jin-hoi (Konkuk University), and Kang Man-jong (Chonnam National University).

Pigs have been used to grow human organs, but the major obstacle is the immune rejection. The porcine alpha-1, 3-Galactosyltransferase, the enzyme not found in humans, causes hyperacute rejection (a rejection that usually develops in less than an hour from the implantation of an organ). To resolve this issue, some scientists have looked to develop drugs designed to suppress the immune system. Others have used biotechnology to modify the associated genes.

The piglet was produced by both biotechnology that knocks out the gene that induces hyperacute rejection and cloning. In 2002, the world’s first alpha-1, 3-Galactosyltransferase knockout pig was produced by the researchers at Missouri University. In 2005, a Harvard University team transplanted the heart of a genetically modified pig to a baboon, and the animal lived for another six months, demonstrating that it overcame immune reactions.

The Korean researchers said that they would be able to mass-produce the alpha-1,3-galactosyltransferase knockout cloned piglets by mating the cloned male pigs and genetically modified female pigs. Although a number of other challenges such as rejections caused by swine virus or other specific elements are still to be addressed, a researcher states that the research has laid the foundation for xenotransplantation.

April 22, 2009

Republic of Korea - KBCH Hold the BCH Subregional Workshop(December 10 ~ 12, 2008)

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 05:15:07 Z

The Korea Biosafey Clearing House (KBCH) hosted a workshop entitled the “Subregional Workshop for Capacity-Building on The BCH and Information Sharing” in the Grand Conference Room of the Nanum Building at the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology between December 10 and 12. 21 experts from biosafety clearing houses in 20 countries attended the workshop.
The work shop, proposed by Korea in the 4th General Assembly for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, was co-hosted by KBCH and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in order to develop and enhance capabilities of human resources and systems in developing countries and introduce KBCH’s best practices to them based on KBCH’s experience of hosting the 2005 Asian BCH Workshop.

Fifteen BCH experts from 15 countries (Cambodia, China, Estonia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kiribati, Laos, Nigeria, Peru, the Philippines, Thai, Tonga and Vietnam), invited by KBCH and UNEP, participated in the workshop along with two UNEP officials, two from the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), and two Regional Advisors.

In the three-day workshop, 15 participating countries’ experts gave presentations on their BCH activities. And they were BCH obligations under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, information sharing status, and the establishment, management, development outlook of BCH in African countries. They also presented the introduction to the BCH portal, how to register data into the system, and technical information relating to BCH registration.

KBCH obtained successful results from the workshop as its management experience has been recognized as one of the leading best practices by UNEP and SCBD as well as countries the world over. In particular, UNEP officials who attended the workshop have requested KBCH’s active participation in the two-phase workshop to be hosted by UNEP, which is believed to open up a new possibility of Korea playing a leading role of sharing global as well as Asian biosafety information. KBCH will continue to work to communicate its advanced expertise to the world by building a continuous collaboration with UNEP, SCBD and other Asian countries.

Republic of Korea - Korea BCH’s 2008 Awareness Survey

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 05:13:37 Z

Among consumers who are aware of living modified organisms (“LMO”), a majority is found to highly expect that LMO can be used for its uses for food, environment, and energy sectors.

The Korea Biosafety Clearing House (KBCH) conducted an opinion poll with the Korea Research, an independent opinion research group, between October 28 and November 14 in 2008, asking 1,000 Korean adults aged between 19 and 64 to find out their awareness and attitudes toward LMO and biosafety.

Some 83.3 percent of the respondents said that they have heard of or were aware of LMO, an approximately 18 percent increase from 65.2 percent in 2007, probably due to the media coverage of the Korea Starch Sugar Association’s import of genetically modified corn for food use in early 2008. Nonetheless, consumers’ knowledge about LMO was found to be low.

Moreover, 70.7 percent of those responded said that they felt uneasy about LMO for food and agricultural uses while 66.3 percent cite concerns about its use in the livestock industry. On the other hand, relatively fewer people expressed their anxiety about its use in the medical, pharmaceutical, environmental purification, industrial biotech, and energy sectors - 23.9 percent, 12.8 percent, 11.7 percent, and 11.2 percent respectively.

Besides, an awareness survey of GMO was conducted by the Korea Food Industry Association last October. According to the deliberative opinion poll, people who answered positively to the question about whether they would buy GMO-derived food were 42 percent of those surveyed, a 5 percent increase from 37 percent while those who said no to the question decreased from 42 percent to 30 percent, indicating that adequate information can raise consumers’ acceptance of GMO. According to the ‘GMO Awareness Survey’ carried out by Consumers’ Union of Korea, 76 percent among 154 lawmakers and 64 members of the Seoul Municipal Assembly said that food products should be labeled whether they contain genetically modified ingredients even if no GMO is detected. However, the survey suggests that their knowledge about genetically recombinant technology was very low overall, requiring those who are in the crucial decision-making position to pay more attention to public safety and the development of biotechnology.

* The deliberative Opinion Poll, first proposed in 1988 in the United States, involves a random sample of citizens relating to a particular theme. They are polled with no information provided and then are subject to the second poll after sufficient deliberations and discussions about the given theme in order to trace a change in public opinion and thus reach a social consensus. In Korea the poll was conducted the poll for the first time in August 31 2005 to develop the August 31 Real Estate Measures.

The Korea Biosafety Clearing House (KBCH) carries out an extensive and thorough survey of domestic consumers to identify their attitudes, awareness, acceptance, and concerns about GMO in a bid to comply with the “Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety” and the “The Act on Trans-boundary Movements of Living Modified Organisms, etc”.

Republic of Korea - Greenlight for Clinical Trial of Anthrax Vaccine Developed by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 05:11:05 Z

The Center for Infectious Disease of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“KCDCP”) announced on November 6, 2008 that it has been approved by the Korea Food and Drug Administration to conduct clinical trials of its genetically modified anthrax vaccine.

KCDCP developed vaccine candidates and high-efficiency production bacteria in 1998. It will complete clinical trials by 2010 and, once given a greenlight, is planning to produce and stockpile the vaccines against contingencies.

The major ingredient of the new genetically-modified anthrax vaccine is the protective antigen seen as one of the most important vaccine ingredients of the anthrax bacteria. This next-generation vaccine is expected to be free from adverse effects of the existing anthrax vaccines.

Anthrax attacks both people and cattle and has high mortality rates.

Republic of Korea - Rural Development Administration Developed Two Cancer-Fighting Rice Varieties Containing Isoflavone

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:59:32 Z

The Rural Development Administration developed two rice varieties that contain isoflavone genistein for the first time in the world. Isoflavone genistein is not found in the existing rice varieties.

Twelve types of isoflavones in soybean are major functional ingredients and genistein, particularly, doubles as a cancer-fighter and anti-oxidant, inhibiting prostate and breast cancer cell growth, according to a variety of study results.

The synthetic isoflavone gene used to develop the anti-cancer rice variety belongs to the cytochrome P450 genes with unstable gene expression. No rice variety infused with the gene had been successfully created. However, Lee Jang-yong, the researcher at the Environmental Bioengineering Division of the Rural Development Administration has successfully separated the two isoflavone-forming genes from soybean and inserted the genes into both general and colored rices.

The anti-cancer rices can help people consume the amount of isoflavones equivalent to 40 percent of the daily recommended intake, greatly improving public health.

October 6, 2008

Launch of web page for the survey on socio-economic considerations

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:40:59 Z

A new web page on a survey on socio-economic considerations has been developed as part of the online forums and collaborative portals section of the BCH.

Kyrgyzstan - Second BCH training was held in Kyrgyz Republic

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 01:39:08 Z

Second BCH training was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic from 16 to 17 July 2009 within the framework of UNEP-GEF Project "Capacity building for effective participation in Biosafety Clearing House". More than 25 participants from various government organizations took part in the event organized by the State Agency on Environment Protection and Forestry of the Kyrgyz Republic with help of BCH Regional Advisors.

Revamping the 'Registering Information' section of the BCH - Four new common formats online

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:32:40 Z

The revamping of the first four standard forms (common formats’ for the submission of information to the BCH) have been completed and the new forms are now available online. They are:

- Biosafety Information Resource Centre (BIRC)
- LMO registry
- Gene registry
- Organism registry

UNEP-GEF BCH Project National workshop to be held in FYR of Macedonia

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:53:32 Z

Within the framework of UNEP-GEF Project "Capacity building for effective participation in Biosafety Clearing House", national workshop for inspectors and customs officers will be held in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia from 22 to 23 June 2009.

Tutorials for the use of the BCH are now available in English and Spanish languages.

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:34:35 Z

A series of new tutorials for the use of the BCH is now available at http://bch.cbd.int/help/tutorial.shtml .
All tutorial modules are available in PowerPoint (PPT) format in English, French and Spanish. Furthermore, video versions of the tutorial modules are available in AVI and WMV format with audio commentary in English and Spanish. French version is in preparation.

Colombia - España quiere estar a la vanguardia de la biotecnología agrícola

Fri, 08 May 2009 11:51:54 Z

Maíz genéticamente modificado rico en vitaminas

Un equipo de biólogos moleculares de la Universidad de Lérida ha creado un maíz genéticamente modificado, que tiene la característica de ser hipervitamínico, ya que es rico en vitamina A, C y en ácido fólico.

El desarrollo de estas variedades implicó copiar los genes de las bacterias que producen las vitaminas A,C y el ácido fólico, para insertárselos a las mazorcas. Fue desarrollado en el Departamento de Producción Vegetal y Ciencia Forestal de la Universidad de Lérida, y parte de los análisis se han realizado en la Universidad de Murcia y en la alemana Johann Wolfgang Goethe.

De momento hemos logrado las semillas y ahora entramos en la fase de prueba con animales. Será en la Facultad de Medicina de Lérida donde durante dos o tres años veremos lo positivo y negativo del maíz en ratas de laboratorio, aseguró Teresa Capell Capell, bióloga molecular participante en la investigación.

Las mazorcas producidas hasta ahora en las cámaras selladas de la Universidad, tienen un color anaranjado que recuerda a las zanahorias, por su alto contenido en el betacaroteno de la vitamina A. Los niveles son hasta 169 veces más elevados que los normales y cinco veces más altos que los del conocido como arroz dorado, una variedad transgénica de arroz producida en China.

Los investigadores buscan que estas mazorcas sean de utilidad sobretodo para los países pobres. Cuando todo concluya, las semillas se distribuirán gratis. Y como no proceden de una mazorca híbrida, servirán para los cultivos posteriores. Son semillas para agricultores pobres y para el consumo propio. No dan cosechas grandes, sino de supervivencia, pero con el añadido de las vitaminas añadió Capell.

El grano transgénico contenía 169 veces más beta caroteno que el grano normal. También contenía 6 veces más de ascorbato y el doble de folato que el grano normal. Los niveles de vitaminas producidas de esta forma se mantenían estables, al menos, hasta la generación homocigótica T3.

Los investigadores afirman que entre un 40% y un 50% de la población mundial sufre enfermedades causadas por deficiencias de minerales y vitaminas en su dieta.

La investigación se viene realizando desde hace cinco años y fue publicada el 28 de abril de 2009 en el más reciente número de la revista Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Para ver el resumen haga clic aqui

Los resultados obtenidos han excedido los conseguidos por la selección convencional y abren las puertas al desarrollo de cereales nutricionalmente completos que beneficien a los pueblos más pobres del planeta.

Se inauguró centro de biotecnología

El pasado 27 de abril de 2009 se inauguró el Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas CBGP- el cual pretende convertirse en referente mundial para mejorar la eficacia en la producción vegetal.

Está diseñado para realizar investigación de vanguardia en lo relativo a la comprensión de procesos vegetales, como la diferenciación de las raíces, la floración, el desarrollo de las semillas, el cese del crecimiento y la adaptación de las plantas a condiciones adversas en climas semiáridos, como los que se presentan en España.

Además, entre los objetivos del centro está el lograr una mejor comprensión de la adaptación de las plantas a condiciones adversas como la salinidad de los suelos, o los mecanismos de defensa a los microorganismos patógenos (virus, bacterias y hongos).

La importancia de este centro radica en la utilización de tecnología más avanzada que es comparable con otros centros de Europa que están a la vanguardia dentro del sector de la biología de plantas y biología genómica, como algunos situados en Inglaterra, Francia y Alemania.

Así mismo, se destaca la importancia de su investigación genómica en el ámbito de los cultivos por sus implicaciones sanitarias y alimentarias, y los beneficios que ello aporta a la sociedad.

Tomado de: abc.es
elmundo.es

Results of the forums' Survey are available on the BCH

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:12:05 Z

In March 2009 an appreciation survey was conducted among the participants to the two forums hosted by the BCH in the previous months:

* The Online Forum on Capacity-Building and
* The Open-ended Online Expert Forum on Risk Assessment and Risk Management

A synthesis of the main results of the survey is available at
http://bch.cbd.int/onlineconferences/surveyforums_cb_ra.shtml .

Saint Lucia - Another BCH Training workshop successfully completed

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:17:04 Z

Farmers in the north of the island were targeted for training in finding information and sensitisation on the BCH on Tuesday the 24th March 2009.

Saint Lucia - Two new training workshops on Biosafety Clearing House Completed in Saint Lucia

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:10:12 Z

Saint Lucia recently completed two more training workshops on the BCH targeted at the National Coordinating Committee (NCC) and secondary school teachers respectively. These workshops sought to help participants find information on the BCH.

Panama - National Biosafety website

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:58:58 Z

Panama National Biosafety web site has gone public and can be found at http://www.bioseguridad.gob.pa

Iran (Islamic Republic of) - Three National BCH workshop were held in National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 06:22:01 Z

In performing UNEP-GEF BCH PROJECT ON BUILDING CAPACITY FOR EFFECTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THE BIOSAFETY CLEARING HOUSE, Three National BCH workshop were held in National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. The first workshop was on DECEMBER 7-8, 2008, SECOND WORKSHOP WAS ON 27-28 Dec.2008 and the third one was on 22 Feb. 2009.
Representatives of related organizations (Agricultural Research Institute of Iran,
Food and Drug Organization, Plant Protection Organization, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Iran Veterinary Organization, Department of Environment, Institute of Standards & Industrial Research of Iran and Ministry of commerce) were invited to participate in these workshops.

1st Bhutan National Biosafety Clearing House Workshop 4th and 5th March 2009

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 07:00:14 Z

The National Environment Commission (NEC) in cooperation with the UNEP-GEFconducted the 1st National Workshop on Biosafety Clearing House on March 4-5, 2009 at the NEC Conference Hall, Thimphu, Bhutan.

In preparation for the workshop, Dr. Maningas, Mr. Dorji and Mr. Namgay paid a courtesy call to Deputy Minister for Environment Lyonpo Nado Rinchhen on March 3 and briefed him about the activities lined-up for the workshop.

For this workshop the NEC serving as the National Executing Agency for the BCH Project has invited participants from the member-agencies of the BCH taskforce namely: MoF-Department of Revenue and Customs, MoA-National Biodiversity Center, MoA-Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority, MoH-Biomedical Engineering Services, MoA-Nature Conservation Division, MoEA-Division of Foreign Trade and National Environment Commission.

The NEC has invited Dr. Ruel V. Maningas, BCH Regional Advisor to facilitate the workshop and serve as resource person to various topics related to BCH. Mr. Karma C. Nyedrup,Head of the Environment Assessment Division and the BCH Focal Point and Mr. Thinley Dorji, Senior Environment Officer shall presented the Bhutan National Biosafety Framework during the 1st day of the workshop. Mr. Rinzin Namgay presented the Bhutan National BCH Website on the 2nd day.

A post-workshop meeting has been done on March 5th 2009 to discuss the procedures for the BCH project closure.

Syrian Arab Republic - Syria

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 05:22:44 Z

After preparing the National website of Biosafety Clearing House (nBCH) and linked it with Central Portal of Secretariate of Biodiversity Convention, Syria published the National Biosafety Clearing House at the
address: http://www.syrbch.org

Yemen - قرار مجلس الوزارء بالموافقة على الإطار الوطني للسلامة الأحيائية ولائحته التنفيذية.

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 05:25:19 Z

صدر قرار مجلس الوزارء رقم ( 6 ) بتاريخ 6 يناير 2009م ، بالموافقة على الإطار الوطني للسلامة الأحيائية ولائحته التنفيذية ، على أن تتولى الهيئة العامة لحماية البيئة مهام سكرتارية اللجنة الوطنية للسلامة الأحيائية.

Montenegro - National Workshop for Inspectors

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 08:47:47 Z

National workshops for inspectors was conducted in Podgorica (Montenegro) from 21 to 22 January 2009 within framework of UNEP-GEF Project for Capacity building for effective participation on BCH. Implementing agency of Project is Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Managment.

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya - ليبيا تنظم ورشتى عمل للتدريب على استعمال غرفة تبادل المعلومات للسلامة الاحيائية

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:06:01 Z

بعد انتهائها من وضع الاطار الوطني للسلامة الاحيائية، نظمت ليبيا (ممثلة في الهيئة العامة للبيئة) بالتعاون مع برنامج الامم المتحدة للبيئة ومرفق البيئة العالمي ورشتا عمل للتدرب على اليات غرفة تبادل معلومات السلامة الاحيائية في 3-5 .11. 2008 , ومن 2-4 . 12. 2008 بمقر الهيئة بطرابلس . الورشتان افتتحتا من قبل الدكتور محمود الفلاح امين لجنة الادارة بالهيئة وبحضور كل من الدكتور محمد الياس كشك والدكتور اسامة عبدالقوي (مستشارا برنامج الامم المتحدة)، وبحضور مشاركين من :
1. الهيئة العامة للبيئة
2. مركز بحوث الاحياء البحرية
3. جهاز تحسين البذور
4. امانة الزراعة
5- جامعة الفاتح
6- اللجنة الوطنية للاخلاقيات البيولوجية
7- مركز بحوث التقنيات الحيوية
8- الجمعية الوطنية للتقنيات الحيوية
9- البرنامج الوطني لتنمية الغطاء النباتي
10- مندوب عن مصلحة الجمارك
11- المركز الوطني للاصول الوراثية
وقد تضمن البرنامج محاضرات ودراسة حالات وتدريب بخصوص عملية تسجيل المعلومات بالغرفة وكذلك كيفية الاتصال بين نقطة الاتصال الوطنية و مندوبي القطاعات .
وتقام هذه الورشة من اجل الايفاء بالتزامات الجماهيرية العظمى تجاه الاتفاقيات والمعاهدات الدولية التي تدعو لحماية التنوع الحيوي و الثروة النباتية والحيوانية، من خلال اقامة الدراسات حول التعامل مع الكائنات المحورة جينيا ،و المساهمة في تكوين غرفة تبادل معلومات وطنية والتي تعتبر بذرة البداية لموضوع السلامة الاحيائية، والتي تعقبها عديد الخطوات في المستقبل القريب.
وقد خصص اليوم الاول للتعريف ببروتكول السلامة الاحيائية الذي نصت عليه اطراف الاتفاقية الدولية للتنوع الحيوي .
وخصص اليوم الثاني والثالث لدراسات حالات وكذلك كيفية الاستفادة من غرفة تبادل معلومات السلامة الاحيائية لايجاد معلومات تساعد في اجراء تقييم المخاطر .
والهيئة العامة للبيئة بالنيابة عن كافة الجهات المشاركة تود التعبير عن امتنانها للتعاون المقدم من قبل فريق السلامة الاحيائية في برنامج الامم المتحدة للبيئة.

اعداد: مراد صولة وعبدالمولى حمزة

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya - Libya organises two training workshops on Biosafety Clearing House Mechanism

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:49:33 Z

After the finalisation of the National Biosafety Framework, the Environment General Authority (NEA-Libya) in collaboration with UNEP and GEF has organised two training workshops on using and updating Biosafety Clearing House, from 3-5 November and from 2-4 December 2008 at EGA's headquarters in Tripoli.

The workshops came as an implementation of the program of activities within the National Biosafety Clearing House Project.

The workshops were opened by Dr. Mahmoud Elfallah, EGA's Secretary of Managing Board and facilitated and presented by Dr. Mohamed Kshuk and Dr. Osama Abdelkawy (UNEP-Biosafety Regional Advisers), and attended by representatives from: EGA, University of Alfateh-Tripoli , Marine Biology Research Centre, Seed improvement Centre, Secretariat of Agriculture, National Committee on Bioethics and Biosafety, Biotechnology Research Centre, National Project of Plant cover development, National Centre of Genetic Resources and the Customs Authority.

The program of these workshops has included a series of lectures and practical application related to BCH, in addition the protocol of communication between the national coordinator and national authorities' representatives were also emphasised.

Several case studies and methods for searching the central BCH portal for information on risk assessment and other countries' legislations' were elaborated, followed by extensive discussions (Q&A).

These workshops came as an implementation of Libya to the BCP, and to raise the knowledge on the national level about biosafety information issues.

These workshops have provided an opportunity to start the nBCH web-portal, and to explain the basis of BCH portal work. EGA on behalf of all Libyan authorities is grateful for the excellent cooperation of UNEP team in this project.

Croatia - Second National Workshop for the members of the BCH Task Force Group

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:09:12 Z

Republic of Croatia conducted its second National Workshop for the members of the BCH Task Force Group on the 12 December 2008. The first one was conducted on 8 January 2008, several months before the official start of the UNEP-GEF BCH Project.

There were a total of 12 participants that attended the workshop. The main objective of the workshop was to introduce all members of the BCH Task Force Group, particularly those that will become an authorized users with the procedure of registering information under their own jurisdiction into the Biosafety Clearing-House. The workshop has been conducted by the Cartagena and BCH National Focal Point for Croatia, Ms. Dubravka Stepić.

Dominican Republic - Republica Dominicana- Taller Entrenamiento al Servicio Nacional de Proteccion Ambiental (SENPA)

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 21:44:59 Z

La Secretaria de Estado de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARENA) , durante los dias 2 y 3 de diciembre impartio el VIII taller de entrenamiento dentro del proyecto CIISB a oficiales del Servicio Nacional de Proteccion Ambiental (SENPA).

Panama - Taller de Actualización de Proyecto CIISB

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:23:34 Z

VII TALLER DE ENTRENAMIENTO del CIISB

El día 5 de diciembre de 2008, en las instalaciones del Hotel El Panamá, se llevó a cabo el séptimo Seminario de Entrenamiento del Proyecto "Creación de capacidad para una efectiva participación en el Centro de Intercambio de Información de Seguridad en la Biotecnología" de Panamá.

Dominican Republic - Dominican Republic Biosafety Website

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:30:03 Z

Dominican Republic biosafety website has been published and can be found at http://www.bioseguridad.gob.do

Dominican Republic - VIII BCH TRAINING WORKSHOP

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:36:30 Z

During 2nd and 3rd December 2008 has taken place The eight National Workshop of the UNEP-GEF “Capacity Building for an Effective Participation in the BCH” Project. The event is held at Santo Domingo Hotel, in La Española (Santo Domingo) city. The event has an important attendance of government authorities – including officers from the Environment Protection National Service-, industry, University and non-government organization delegates.

Fourth Meeting of the BCH-IAC , 17-18 November 2008, Montreal, Canada

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:31:49 Z

The fourth meeting of the Informal Advisory Committee was convened by the Executive Secretary to seek guidance with respect to technical issues associated with the ongoing development of the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH). The meeting discussed the following items outlined in the provisional agenda: (i) Introduction and overview; (ii) Review of the new Management Centre, new registration pages and common formats for off-line registration; (iii) Review of the new “Help” section in the Biosafety Clearing-House; (iv) General progress in the multi-year programme of work; (v) Pending requests from the decisions of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP); (vi) Training activities and collaboration with the UNEP-GEF Biosafety Clearing-House project; and (vii) Future developments and challenges. The Summary Outcomes reports conclusions and recommendations to the Executive Secretary for consideration in the implementation of the programme of work for the Biosafety Clearing-House.

Croatia - Croatia – Five National BCH Workshops

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:24:04 Z

In the spring of 2008 the Republic of Croatia signed the MoU with the UNEP-GEF in order to participate in the UNEP-GEF Project "Building Capacity for Effective Participation in the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH)“. The BCH strategy and planning of all activities under the Project have been done by the CPB and BCH NFP of Croatia. Implementation of the Project was the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture and its Nature Protection Directorate as a National Executing Agency (NEA). Among several activities under the Project, it has been also planned to conduct five national BCH workshops.

First National BCH workshop that was held on the 2 October 2008 was organized for professionals coming from different competent national authorities (CNAs). The second National BCH workshop has been organized for participants working in the inspection service under different ministries and government institutions. This was a two-day workshop and it took place from 20 to 21 October 2008. Third National BCH workshop was again a two-day workshop organized for custom and border officials and was held from 25 to 26 November 2008. Fourth National BCH workshop took place on the 27 November. It was a workshop for scientists and professors working in different scientific disciplines at the University of Zagreb. The fifth National BCH workshop took place on the 1 December 2008 and was meant for NGOs and Media participants.

All objectives of the National BCH workshops have been successfully met. All participants welcomed the opportunity to increase their knowledge of provisions under the Protocol as well as to learn about the possibilities of the BCH mechanism. Through the practical hands-on experience and numerous different exercises choosed for each group of stakeholders, they were able to familiarize themselves with the proper usage of the BCH mechanism, so they could implement it in their work related to biosafety. After each of the workshop there was a pleasant feeling of achievement and satisfaction in all involved. The total number of participants who attended the BCH workshops was 122.

The facilitators during the workshops were CPB and BCH NFP of Croatia and IT Regional Advisor, Ms. Vida Marolt from UNEP. We were also pleased to hear presentations given by Dr. Andreas Heissenberger at two of those BCH workshops.

Kiribati - Kiribati BCH second national workshop

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:07:28 Z

Kiribati is currently holding her second national BCH workshop (1st - 3rd of December 2008) for its national authorized users. The workshop is being conducted by a BCH IT Regional Advisor, Sam Fonua from Tonga, and attended by 7 participants from relevant government ministries and companies.

Ecuador - ECUADOR BCH PROJECT CLOSURE EVENT

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 11:53:55 Z

El día 27 de Noviembre de 2008, en las instalaciones del Hotel Colón de la ciudad de Quito, se llevó a cabo el evento de cierre del Proyecto "Creación de capacidad para una efectiva participación en el Centro de Intercambio de Información de Seguridad en la Biotecnología" de Ecuador. El evento, que es el noveno taller realizado en el marco de este Proyecto, ha contado con la participación de autoridades de gobierno, representantes de la industria, academia y organizaciones no gubernamentales, tanto de la Capital como del Interior del País.

Ecuador - NEW ECUADOR NATIONAL BCH WEBSITE

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:36:14 Z

Ecuador national BCH website has been made available to the general public, at http://www.bioseguridadecuador.gov.ec

Fiji - Fiji second National Workshop

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:44:47 Z

Training of National Authorised Users on entering information into the BCH

Two New Online Forums Launched

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:12:35 Z

Two new online forums were launched this month on the BCH and are presently ongoing:

- The Forum on Capacity-Building is currently hosting an online conference on the topic: “Capacity-building in environmental risk assessment and post-release monitoring of LMOs: current status, priority needs and future capacity-building measures”. The current session will be open for discussions from 3 to 14 November 2008. Another conference, on a different topic, will be hosted in January 2009.
Visit the Online Forum on Capacity-Building at: http://bch.cbd.int/onlineconferences/forum_cb.shtml

- The Open-ended Online Expert Forum on Risk Assessment and Risk Management is currently hosting four discussion groups on risk assessment of different types of LMOs (transgenic fish, trees, microorganisms & viruses and pharmaplants). The current session will be open for discussions from 10 to 23 November 2008. A second round of discussion groups, on different topics, will take place in this Forum from 1 to 14 December 2008.
Visit the Open-ended Online Expert Forum on Risk Assessment & Management at: http://bch.cbd.int/onlineconferences/forum_RA.shtml

Fiji - First National Workshop - 26th -27th May 2008

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:32:01 Z

National Workshop on the introduction of the Cartagena Protocol and Biosafety Clearing House to BCH Taskforce members

Syrian Arab Republic - General commission for Biotechnology is preparing its general strategy for biotechnology

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 06:54:47 Z

The General Commission for Biotechnology (GCB) is preparing its strategy for biotechnology in syria, which concentrate on encourage and link between all the institutes and stakeholders related to Biotechnology and make up the database include all the studies and researches in the commission.
it emphasized on increase the capacity building on biosafety and biotechnology through training courses, workshops, and researching studies

Dominican Republic - Ley sobre Bioseguridad

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 09:07:23 Z

El Poder Ejecutivo del Estado de la Republica Dominicana envia al Congreso Nacional la Ley sobre Bioseguridad, la cual se esta estudiando en la Comision de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales de la Camara de Senadores.

Syrian Arab Republic - The Eighth meeting of The Arab team who responsible to follow up the International Environmental Conventions ( Biodiversity , Biosafety Protocol,CMS,RAMSAR,CITES, and Desartification), Damascus -Syria 13-15 Oct 2008

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:08:50 Z

Syria hosted the The Eighth meeting of The Arab team who responsible to follow up the International Environmental Conventions ( Biodiversity , Biosafety Protocol, and Desartification ) in ACSAD Center from 13-15 / Oct 2008 to discuss the mechanisms of implementing the International Environmental Conventions ( Biodiversity , Biosafety Protocol, and Desartification ), they agreed on importance of information sharing especially on Biosafety Protocol and they adopted the recommendations of /MOP4/ about the Biosfety Protocol and they encouraged the all arab countries to speed up establishing the Biosafety Clearing House (BCH).
Finally they agreed to organize some workshops about :
1- Liability & Redress on context of Biosafety Protocol.
2- Risk Assessment & management of LMOs.
3- Invasive species.
4- Benefit sharing of the genetic resources.

Online forums on biosafety

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:08:44 Z

In response to requests from the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, two online forums have been launched through the BCH.

The Open-ended Online Expert Forum on Risk Assessment and Risk Management (established in Decision BS-IV/11) will serve as a virtual platform where experts can interact and exchange opinions on specific aspects of risk assessment and risk management of living modified organisms (LMOs). The online forum will be comprised of discussion groups and real-time conferences. The outcomes of the online discussion groups and real-time conferences will serve as one of the inputs of the deliberations by the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG).

The Online Forum on Capacity-Building will provide a platform for policymakers, practitioners, donors, academics and other individuals to interact and exchange information, views and ideas relevant to capacity-building for the effective implementation of Protocol. The online forum will be comprised of online conferences, an open discussion forum and online discussion groups.

Access to these forums over the coming weeks to check for regular updates:

- Open-ended Online Expert Forum on Risk Assessment and Risk Management at http://bch.cbd.int/onlineconferences/forum_RA.shtml
- Online forum on capacity-building at http://bch.cbd.int/onlineconferences/forum_cb.shtml

Update of the BCH help system

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:25:44 Z

The BCH help system has been extensively updated and is accessible by simply clicking on the ‘Help’ section located on the far right of the BCH’s main horizontal navigation bar. This will display the main Help system Table of Contents in the left-hand menu. Of particular note is that a complete set of training materials on the BCH and the Cartagena Protocol is now available by clicking on the ‘Training Materials’ item at the end of the Table of Contents. This training kit, developed by the UNEP-GEF BCH Project, is composed of books, interactive modules and customized curricula which can be used to tailor specific BCH training workshops, case studies, etc. Also, the whole training materials kit, ‘CD-IMAGE’, can be downloaded from the same section. Finally, comprehensive, context-sensitive ‘Help’ information is also available from individual BCH pages by clicking on the white-and-blue question mark icon in the right-side corner under the green navigation bar. Please send your feedback to bch@cbd.int

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya - Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah issuing a booklet on NBF, BCH and CPB

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:53:03 Z

The national excuting agency team of the Libyan National Biosafety Framework project has issued a 10 pages booklet in arabic to introduce Q&A's on PCB, BCH and NBF project in Libya. the booklet was prepared by A. HAMZA the national coordinator with assistance from the consultant national team members. the booklet is the first Libyan publication in the field of Biosafety.

Belize - National Workshops on Cartagena Protocol and the BCH

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:00:16 Z

The Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA), the National Competent Authority for Biosafety in Belize, in collaboration with UNEP-GEF and the Belize National Biosafety Committee organized two national workshops during the period August 26 - 28 and September 3 - 5 2008 on the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB) and the Biosafety Clearing House (BCH).

Egypt - 1st National BCH Workshop

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:05:29 Z

The Egyptian Environmental affairs Agency in collaboration with UNEP-GEF will organize the first national workshop on BCH entitled "Introduction to the CPB & BCH: Obligations & Operations" coordinated by Dr. Ossama Abdel-Kawy, Egypt BCH project coordinator.

The workshop will be held on 25 August 2008, at Sofitel, El Maadi, Cairo with participation from Prof. Moustafa Fouda, Head of Nature Conservation Sector & Egypt CBD National Focal Point and prof. Ossama El-Tayeb, Egypt CPB National Focal Point.

The workshop will focus on the CPB and the BCH as an information exchange mechanism established by the CPB to assist Parties to implement its provisions and to facilitate sharing of information on, and experience with, LMOs.

Representatives from national concerned authorities, universities and NGO's are invited to the workshop and expected to discuss for one day the position of Egypt BCH and its integration within Egypt governmental institutions and non governmental organizations.

For more information, write to Dr. Ossama Abdel-Kawy on elkawyo@gmail.com

Translation of the BCH into the 6 official UN languages and a new 'Help' section

Tue, 06 May 2008 11:57:21 Z

In response to a direct request from the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol in Paragraph 13 of Decision BS-III/2 of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP). the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) is now accessible in all six of the official languages of the United Nations (i.e. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). The translation has been completed for all public pages of the BCH’s Central Portal. The pages of the BCH Management Centre, only accessible to BCH account-holders to create and manage information, are also expected to be translated, following the revamping of this last section, by the end of 2008.

Thanks to the UNEP-GEF BCH Project team a new ‘Help’ section of the BCH is also available from the Central Portal to help facilitate the use of the BCH. It is noted that the product is an output of the effective collaboration of the Secretariat and the BCH project. This integrated new ‘Help’ section has also been fully translated into the six official languages of the United Nations.

All Parties, and other BCH users, are invited to provide the Secretariat with any feedback on these two important innovations.

Read the notification.

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya - National Validation Workshop for NBF of Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 07:30:02 Z

The Environment General Authority (http://www.environment.org.ly) in collaboration with UNEP-GEF will organize the national validation workshop on Libyan National Biosafety Framework, which was formulated by a group of Libyan experts and coordinated by Abdulmaula HAMZA as a national project coordinator.
The workshop will be held on 23-24 April 2008, at the Libyan Marine Biology Research Centre in Tajoura (12 km E Tripoli) with participation from Dr Alex Osou-Biney the project coordinator in UNEP and Guest speaker Mdm Hazar Billy from NBF team of Tunisia.

Representatives from national concerned authorities, universities and NGO's are expected to discuss for two days the position of Libyan regulatory system in relation with LMO's and Cartagena Protocol implementation. Libya joined the protocol on June 12, 2005.
The workshop will include a visit to the premises of Libyan Biotechnology Research Centre, whom is a partner in preparation of the national framework; partners include also the National Bank for Plant Genetic Resources, The Libyan permanent committee on Bioethics and Biosecurity, the Libyan Society of Biotechnology.

For more information, write to Abdulmaula HAMZA on egabiosafety@gmail.com

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya - Libya participating to sub regional BCH workshop in Cairo

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:53:31 Z

Organized by UNEP GEF project on Biosafety Clearing House Mechanism, The Environment General Authority was present at sub regional workshop on BCH, held in Marriott Hotel in Zamalek, Cairo, from 10-14 March 2008.

Launch of the 2007 Survey on the BCH

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 10:44:08 Z

In accordance with requests made by both the COP-MOP and the BCH-IAC, a new online survey on the recently revamped BCH was released 1 December 2007. It is available at http://bch.cbd.int/survey/. The primary purpose of the survey is to obtain feedback from all BCH users, particularly with respect to user-friendliness and the quality of the information registered. The results of the survey will be collated and submitted for consideration by the Parties at their fourth meeting, being convened in Bonn 12-16 May 2008. This is being done as part of the review of the implementation of the Protocol envisaged in the medium-term programme of work.

November 2007 Release of the BCH

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 20:36:20 Z

We are pleased to announce the release of a revamped version of the BCH. We have put together an entirely-new layout that is in sync with the website for the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Homepage of the BCH and the first three sections on the new horizontal navigation bar (i.e. ‘The BCH’, ‘The Protocol’ and ‘Finding Information’) have been fully overhauled. However, much work remains to be done on the other sections (i.e. ‘Registering Information’, ‘Resources’ and ‘Help’). Below is a summary of the primary changes that have so far been made to the BCH:

URL:

The new URL of the Biosafety Clearing-House is http://bch.cbd.int/ and an automatic redirection is active from the previous URL.

User friendliness:

The BCH layout is now in sync with the new CBD website that was released in May 2007. Also, navigation tools similar to the new CBD website have been optimized in order to allow for better identification of the primary sections of the site.

All common content between the BCH and the CPB websites have been unified and consolidated so that the BCH and the CPB websites mirror one another in this respect. This was done in order to avoid duplication and facilitate browsing.

All of the primary search interfaces in the ‘Finding Information’ section – which represent the “core” of the BCH – have been merged as much as possible in order to facilitate access to cross-referenced data and maximize the capacity of BCH users to retrieve information from the Central Portal. For example, the new version of the BCH contains approximately 40 primary links and 10 search interfaces as opposed to the 85 primary links and 22 search interfaces contained in the previous version.

Optional advanced search functions have been integrated into each primary search interface in order to reduce search time without compromising ease of use.

Grouping options have been enhanced in all search interfaces in order to allow for queries of all major geographical or political groupings of countries.

Country profiles, containing summary information with links to all information registered by individual countries, are now available from all of the BCH pages in the new horizontal navigation bar.

Records of the unique identifiers of LMOs now contain a new feature whereby BCH users can access country decisions (categorized according to ‘Domestic Use’, ‘Import’, ‘Environmental Release’ and ‘Other’) and risk assessments that are directly related to specific LMOs.

Data Quality control:

A revised LMO registry, including all current OECD Unique Identifiers, has been consolidated in order to optimize the management of information available in the BCH. The registry is accessible at http://bch.cbd.int/database/organisms/uniqueidentifiers/.

Documentation available in the Biosafety Information Resource Centre (BIRC) has been divided into two databases. The first is for purely scientific articles published in international scientific journals and is maintained by the ICGEB (available at http://bch.cbd.int/database/bibliographic-references/). The second contains "grey" literature (e.g. reports and case studies; journals and newsletters; teaching materials, manuals, toolkits, presentations, etc., available at http://bch.cbd.int/database/resources/). Thanks to the kind contribution of the UNEP-GEF Biosafety Project, there has also been a significant increase of "grey" BIRC records (from 242 to over 700).

Multilanguage enhancement:

Added functionality to multiple languages support for Hermes, Ajax and Central Portal. National languages, other than the 6 UN Official languages may now be technically implemented in all BCH features pending the availability of text translations from interested countries.

March release of the Biosafety Clearing-House

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:21:51 Z

We are pleased to announce the release of several new features to enhance the access to and use of the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH).These improvements include the following:

Information resource pages providing additional details regarding each of the types of information reported in the BCH databases;

Simplification of the Management Centre, including making all editing and review features now available on a single page;

Expanded registration options for general users;

Development of additional tools to improve accessibility of information such as sample filled common formats for reporting information, expanded guidance in completing the forms, and updating of some fields in the formats;

Increased documentation for change to the BCH and its exchange mechanisms.

Further information about these new features and other improvements is available through this link.

Costa Rica - "Convención Interinstitucional para el Desarrollo de Capacidad Nacional" sobre el Centro de Intercambio de Información sobre Seguridad de la Biotecnología para Costa Rica

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 11:52:42 Z

La Convención interinstitucional para el desarrollo de capacidad nacional sobre el Centro de Intercambio de Información sobre Seguridad de la Biotecnología para Costa Rica, es un talller de capacitación dirigido a diferentes sectores públicos y privados que participan en el desarrollo del país, como medios de comunicación, industria biotecnológica, sociedad civil, organizaciones ambientalistas, Comisión Técnica Nacional de Bioseguridad, sector académico, políticos e instituciones de gobierno. El taller informará sobre los compromisos que Costa Rica ha adquirido con la ratificación del Protocolo de Cartagena, facilitará el intercambio de información y experiencia científica, técnica ambiental y jurídica en relación con los organismos vivos modificados, en cumplimiento del Artículo 20 del Protocolo de Cartagena sobre Seguridad de la Biotecnología.

Final Report of the second meeting of the BCH-IAC now available

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 17:50:11 Z

The Final Report of the second meeting of the Informal Advisory Committee of the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH-IAC), held from 23 to 24 November 2006 in Geneva is now available on the CBD website.

December release of the Biosafety Clearing-House

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 16:09:59 Z

We are pleased to announce the implementation of a number of new features in the Central Portal to facilitate and improve access to and use of the BCH. The main new additional features include the following:

A new background saving feature, which automatically saves every 5 minutes a temporary copy of a record being registered or updated in the Management Center. Should an interruption occur, the draft would be restored to its last saved state;

An improved publishing mechanism, which will allow users to actively publish several interlinked records at the same time;

An ability for users to link decision and risk assessment records to the BCH Living Modified Organism Registry maintained by the Secretariat in order to avoid any duplication. A warning message will display if one creates a new LMO record;

A safer un-publishing mechanism, which will ensure that cross-referenced records cannot be inadvertently deleted;

A more flexible way of displaying search results by allowing users to sort displayed results by different criteria;

Improved common formats for capacity-building project and opportunity records, which allow linkages between these records and the relevant organizations in the BCH Directory of Organizations involved in Biosafety Activities.

A redesigned news submission feature, which is now accessible through the Management Center of the BCH and allows National Focal Points and National Authorized Users to submit national news items to the BCH "What’s New" page.

Summary of outcomes for the second meeting of the BCH-IAC (23-24 November 2006)

Sun, 03 Dec 2006 19:15:44 Z

The second meeting of the BCH Informal Advisory Committee was held in Geneva from 23 to 24 November 2006. A summary of outcomes for this meeting is now available, pending publishing of the full report.

New features available - October BCH release

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 14:58:02 Z

New features available in the October 2006 release of the BCH include:

A new section on information-sharing, which provides improved access to the Biosafety Information Resource Centre, the recently released directory of biosafety organizations, and a database of country profiles which provides at-a-glance summary information of information registered by each country in the BCH;

A new facility to search all types of decisions, declarations and notifications at once, and information about finding field trials not covered by the Advance Informed Agreement procedure;

Expanded help features, including new explanations and search hints, the ability to search all records registered with the BCH Central Portal as well as national websites that have been registered with the BCH, and access to the training modules developed under the UNEP-GEF capacity-building project on the BCH;

A new section on reporting, which provides improved access to annual reports on the operation of the BCH, annual reports on the operation of the Roster of Experts, and interim national reports under the Biosafety Protocol;

New search features and instructions for using the BCH multilingual thesaurus and controlled vocabulary; and

Updated common formats for reporting information to the BCH.

New Directory of Organisations involved in Biosafety Activities now available

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 16:55:32 Z

The Secretariat has introduced an easily accessible organizations directory which includes a database that profiles the nature of work undertaken by each institution, focusing on its relevance to biosfaety, and provides detailed contact information as well as links to relevant records in the Biosafety Clearing-House.

The Directory is available on-line in the ‘Information-sharing and networking mechanism’ section of the BCH at <http://bch.biodiv.org/informationsharing/default.shtml>

New Living Modified Organism and Gene Insert Registries now available

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 16:09:26 Z

The Secretariat has introduced an easily accessible central registry of all living modified organisms, including information on the transformation event, gene insert and characteristics of the modification, and its unique identification code (if available). Links to all decisions that refer to one of these organisms are provided at the bottom of each LMO record accessible through the registry.

Follow this link to view the registry of living modified organisms…

Follow this link to view the registry of gene inserts and characteristics…

Follow this link to search for a particular living modified organism…

Follow this link to learn more about unique identification codes…

Final Version of the Decisions of COP/MOP-3 and the Final Report of the meeting now available

Wed, 05 Jul 2006 10:41:48 Z

The final version of the Decisions adopted at COP/MOP-3, held from 13 to 17 March 2006 in Curitiba, Brazil, and the Final Report of the meeting are now available on the CBD website.

Advance Version of the Decisions of COP/MOP-3 now available

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 00:00:00 Z

An advance version (subject to final editing and clearance) of the Decisions adopted at COP/MOP-3, held from 13 to 17 March 2006 in Curitiba, Brazil, is now available on the CBD website.

Completion of COP/MOP-3 – BCH decision

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 00:00:00 Z

Decision BS-III/2 was adopted by the COP/MOP at its third meeting and related to information-sharing and the Biosafety Clearing-House. The edited version of the decisions will be made available shortly, but some highlights of the decision are below:

Urges Parties and other governments to contribute or continue to contribute information;

Invites users to share experiences on overcoming any constraints to making information available;

Requests provision of information relating to unique identification when registering decisions under the AIA procedure;

Reiterates the importance of capacity-building to enable Parties to access and use information the BCH through improving capacity for data collection and data management at the national level, strengthening the core human resources at the national level and enhancing infrastructure to share information at national, regional and international levels;

Invites donors (including the GEF) to take into account the need for Parties to be able to provide information in the common formats in an official language of the UN to enable registration with the Central Portal;

Provides funds for regular translation of the Central Portal through the core budget, beginning in 2007;

Requests the Secretariat to undertake an external security audit of the Central Portal and its infrastructure to ensure full security in 2008, subject to available financial resources;

Requests the Secretariat to continue to develop non-Internet based mechanisms to access and use the BCH on a demand-driven basis;

Requests the Secretariat to undertake a second survey of users to be considered during the review of BCH operations at COP/MOP-4.

Outcome of the BCH Training Workshop

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 00:00:00 Z

Delegates from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific Islands attended the BCH training workshop, which offered training to eligible Parties in how to access and use the BCH, how to fulfill legal obligations to provide information, and an opportunity to explore options for national participation in the global interconnected system that supports the BCH Central Portal.

Paper on the operation and activities of the Biosafety Clearing-House for MOP/3

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 00:00:00 Z

The pre-sessional paper on the operation and activities of the Biosafety Clearing-House for consideration of the third meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to be held in Curitiba from 13 to 17 March 2006, is now available through the CBD website.

New Biosafety Clearing-House Features

Fri, 13 Jan 2006 00:00:00 Z

The Biosafety Clearing-House website has been revised and enhanced, and the new version of the BCH website has been launched. Some of the new features include:

A new “virtual notebook” function that allows registered users to save records of interest for later reference (it operates in a similar fashion to a shopping cart on a commercial site);

Addition of a “country profile” section that will assist users in identifying what types of information are being reported by a particular government;

The ability to export search results and records in xml for use at a local level;

Search results that link the primary record of interest to related records that reference it; and

Addition of several news services to complement the existing Current Awareness Service, including the ability for national governments to register local biosafety news items for distribution through the BCH.

BCH Training Workshop

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 00:00:00 Z

The Secretariat, with support from the UNEP-GEF Project for Building Capacity for Effective Participation in the BCH as part of its national training activity, is convening a hands-on training workshop to review the use of the main components of the BCH in the context of the Protocol implementation, and to provide an opportunity for governments to register their information with the BCH. The workshop will be held on 11-12 March 2006, in Curitiba.

Interim National Reports under the Biosafety Protocol now available through the BCH

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 00:00:00 Z

Access to the complete text of the interim reports submitted to the Secretariat in accordance is now available through the BCH. Electronic facilities intended to assist users to aggregate and analyse data according to selected Parties, geographic area, economic groups and other criteria are also available. Where possible, courtesy translations may have been made available for reports submitted prior to the deadline for submission.

2005 report on BCH activities

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 Z

The 2005 summary report on the operation of the Biosafety Clearing-House is now available. This includes information such as the number of and regional distribution of national focal points; the number of records available through the Biosafety Clearing-House; and partnership arrangements that have been entered into.

Provision of information to the BCH

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 00:00:00 Z

The Secretariat sent a notification to all Parties reminding them of their reporting obligations, and requested Parties and Governments to review their records to ensure the information in the database has been accurately reported and categorized.

Capacity-Building Action Plan Questionnaire

Fri, 23 Sep 2005 10:38:53 Z

The Secretariat has distributed a questionnaire to facilitate the submission of information on the progress in, and effectiveness of, the Action Plan for Building Capacities for the Effective Implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The questionnaire can be downloaded in word format, or completed on-line. Please follow this link for details. Responses are due before 15 November 2005.

New controlled vocabulary for socioeconomic considerations

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 10:24:38 Z

A new controlled vocabulary has been developed to allow countries to indicate their specific capacity-building priorities with regard to socioeconomic considerations, when registering national capacity-building needs. Please follow this link to see the new vocabulary, or log-on through the Management Centre to update your existing records.

Controlled Vocabulary in XML format

Fri, 16 Sep 2005 10:24:38 Z

The BCH Thesaurus (i.e. the BCH controlled vocabulary, a pre-defined list of terms and related synonyms used in the BCH) can now be downloaded in XML format for use by developers. Please follow this link to view the thesaurus.

Expansion of regional search options

Thu, 08 Sep 2005 10:24:38 Z

The regional search options have been expanded to allow additional regional searches, such as for Small Island Developing States, or European Union Members.

Search pages allow multiple selection in search categories

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 10:24:38 Z

The search pages have been modified to allow users to select multiple options when searching the BCH databases. For multiple selections in the drop-down lists (e.g. country lists), please check the “multiple” heading above the search box and highlight the selections of interest by pressing the control key before clicking each term. For other lists (e.g. region lists), please select the appropriate options by using the check-boxes.

Expansion of the BCH Glossary

Thu, 25 Aug 2005 10:24:38 Z

The BCH glossary has been revised and expanded to assist users to more easily access and use the information in the Biosafety Clearing-House. Please follow this link to visit the BCH Glossary.

Multiple contacts for Competent National Authorities

Wed, 17 Aug 2005 10:24:38 Z

Multiple contact details may now be added when registering a Competent National Authority, allowing users to register information for more than one contact person within a single Authority. Please log in through the Management Centre and edit your existing records if you wish to create new titles for existing documents.

BCH-NFPs to be available for all governments

Tue, 16 Aug 2005 10:24:38 Z

For those governments that have not yet nominated a national focal point for the BCH, national focal points for the Cartagena Protocol will also be deemed to be BCH National Focal Points in order to ensure that full access to the Biosafety Clearing-House is available to all governments. Please follow this link for the full text of the notification (PDF), or search the National Focal Point database for contact information relating to a particular government.

Option to include file titles for uploaded documents

Tue, 16 Aug 2005 10:24:38 Z

Users can now create file titles or descriptions for uploaded documents attached to their records. Please log in through the Management Centre and edit your existing records if you wish to create new titles for existing documents.

Improvements to the keyword search functions

Fri, 15 Jul 2005 10:24:38 Z

Keyword searches are now automatically parsed before being undertaken – unless otherwise specified, AND is added between terms. Parentheses can be used for complex searches, words can be grouped using quote marks and noise terms (such as "the" and "for") are filtered. For further information about searching options, please see the section on Boolean Searching examples in the BCH toolkit.

Reporting Format for the Interim National Report on Implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

Thu, 07 Jul 2005 15:12:59 Z

The Reporting Format for the Interim National Report on Implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Annex to MOP 1 Decision BS-I/9) is now available in all six official United Nations languages in the 'Downloadable Files' section of the BCH under 'BCH Forms'. All Parties are expected to submit the Interim National Report in this format to the Executive Secretary no later than 11 September 2005 in accordance with paragraph 5(i) of Decision BS-I/9.

Report of COP-MOP-2 now available

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 10:24:38 Z

The report is now available for the second meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (document UNEP/CBD/BS/COP-MOP/2/15), held from 30 May to 3 June 2005 in Montreal. Please follow this link for the full text of the report (PDF).

BCH Multi-Year Programme of Work

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 10:24:38 Z

COP-MOP 2 adopted a multi-year programme of work for the Biosafety Clearing-House which has five main strategic objectives, namely: 1) to improve ease of reporting and accessing information in the BCH; 2) to increase the amount of information that is currently being reported to the BCH and to ensure it is provided in a timely manner; 3) to make a broader range of biosafety information accessible to users of the BCH; 4) to enhance the capabilities of countries to access information through Internet-based BCH and to ensure that users without good Internet access are able to receive information made available through the BCH in a timely manner; and 5) to review the programme of work to ensure that is achieving the goals of the BCH effectively. The meeting also requested the Secretariat to continue to support capacity-building efforts to enable the active participation of countries in the BCH. Please follow this link to read the decision on operation and activities of the Biosafety Clearing-House (decision BS-II/2).

Risk assessment guidance documents now available in the Biosafety Information Resource Centre

Tue, 07 Jun 2005 10:24:38 Z

Further to the COP-MOP 2 decision regarding risk assessment (decision BS-II/9), the risk assessment guidance documents listed in the annex of the review of existing guidance materials (UNEP/CBD/BS/COP-MOP/2/9) have been made available in the BCH. Please follow this link to search the Biosafety Information Resource Centre...

Launch of the academic compendium

Sun, 05 Jun 2005 10:24:38 Z

The new academic compendium includes a listing of recurrent biosafety education and training programs offered by academic and other relevant institutions around the world. Each entry contains a brief description of the program as well as a Web link and contact details for further information. Please follow this link to search the compendium...

New version of BCH website launched

Fri, 06 May 2005 10:23:17 Z

Following the transition of the BCH from the pilot phase to the fully operational phase and adoption of modalities for its operation (decision BS-I/3), the Secretariat has received valuable feedback from Governments and organizations regarding several proposed improvements to its operation. Accordingly, the Biosafety Clearing-House website has been revised and enhanced. New features include the launch of the Biosafety Information Resource Centre; improved management of records with information in multiple languages; easier access for users with limited email access; improved accessibility and usability; new features for BCH National Focal Points and group users; and personalized databases in the BCH training site.

Invitation to register information in the capacity-building databases

Wed, 06 Apr 2005 10:16:27 Z

The Executive Secretary has extended an invitation to all National Focal Points and relevant organisations to register or update their information in the capacity-building databases prior to COP-MOP 2. Please follow this link for the full text of the notification (PDF).

Capacity-Building Network activated

Wed, 06 Apr 2005 00:00:00 Z

The Biosafety Capacity-Building Network is an interactive forum that links individuals from Government agencies and relevant organizations active in biosafety capacity-building activities. The primary purpose of the Network is to facilitate communication, active interaction and the exchange of information among Network members with a view to promoting partnerships, complementarities and synergies between various biosafety capacity-building initiatives.

Paper on the operation and activities of the Biosafety Clearing-House for MOP-2

Tue, 15 Feb 2005 00:00:00 Z

The pre-sessional paper on the operation and activities of the Biosafety Clearing-House for the second meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (UNEP/CBD/BS/COP-MOP/2/3), to be held in Montreal from 30 May to 3 June 2005, is now available through the CBD website.

2004 report on BCH activities

Wed, 09 Feb 2005 00:00:00 Z

The 2004 summary report on the operation of the Biosafety Clearing-House is now available. This includes information such as the number of and regional distribution of national focal points; the number of records available through the Biosafety Clearing-House; and partnership arrangements that have been entered into.

2004 report on the biosafety roster of experts

Wed, 09 Feb 2005 00:00:00 Z

The 2004 summary report on the status and use of the roster of experts on biosafety, and the voluntary fund for the roster of experts on biosafety, is now available. This report includes statistics on the regional, gender and sector composition of the roster.

Summary outcomes from the first meeting of the BCH Informal Advisory Committee

Wed, 01 Dec 2004 00:00:00 Z

The first meeting of the informal advisory committee of technical experts on the Biosafety Clearing-House met in Montreal on 9 to 10 November 2004, and the summary outcomes report of this meeting is now available.

Archived conference proceedings (GMOs in the management of animal populations)

Mon, 22 Nov 2004 00:00:00 Z

The archived conference proceedings for the online conference on “GMOs in the management of animal populations”, which ran from 18 October to 15 November 2004, are now available. Some of the topics raised for discussion by participants during the online conference included: the appropriate timing of international consultation regarding disseminating LMOs, and incorporating frameworks for such consultation in decision-making (e.g., case-by-case workshops); mechanisms to limit or track disseminating LMOs spreading across international boundaries, such as safety mechanisms for making disseminating LMOs safer (e.g., building containment into recombinant bacteria, and current developments with genetically modified viruses); balancing the risks of using LMOs to control animal populations against the known damage to ecosystems associated with currently available control measures (e.g., cases where current measures fail to mitigate damage done by invasive alien species); and particular challenges in developing countries for managing risks, such as implications of poor understanding and education about LMOs.

Composition of the Informal Advisory Committee of the BCH and first meeting

Thu, 21 Oct 2004 00:00:00 Z

At its first meeting, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol adopted the modalities of operation of the Biosafety Clearing-House, which inter alia, mandated the Secretariat to seek assistance from an informal advisory committee, with a particular focus on providing guidance with respect to resolution of technical issues associated with the ongoing development of the Biosafety Clearing-House. Pursuant to this decision, the Secretariat has scheduled the first meeting of the informal advisory committee of technical experts on the Biosafety Clearing-House in Montreal on 9 to 10 November 2004. The composition of the meeting was determined by the Secretariat taking into account the participants’ demonstrated expertise and experience with the Biosafety Clearing-House, while ensuring regional and gender balance on the Committee, and is available in the relevant notification on the CBD website.

Online Conference - GMOs in the Management of Animal Populations

Wed, 22 Sep 2004 14:51:13 Z

Modern biotechnology can provide innovative approaches to management of animal populations, but what about potential risks? This online conference will facilitate exchange of views on a range of important issues such as the use of GM microorganisms, nematodes and insects for biological control (including those used to cause sterility in pest species for conservation and/or commercial purposes); the use of GM viruses to protect mammal populations against disease; and the use of GM insects for reducing disease transmission rates. The conference will be hosted on the Biosafety Clearing-House from 18 October to 15 November 2004. To subscribe, visit http://bch.biodiv.org/onlineconferences/gmoam.shtml or send an email to bchlistserv@biodiv.org with the subject line blank and the message "SUBSCRIBE GMOAM FirstName LastName" in the message body.

BCH Survey

Mon, 16 Aug 2004 00:00:00 Z

The Secretariat is in the process of preparing a longer-term programme of work for the operation of the BCH. We would like to seek your views to assist us in this task and invite you to participate in our survey. We would like all BCH users, or potential BCH users, to assist us in providing information through the questionnaire, so please feel free to distribute it widely among your colleagues. The questionnaire is available in hard-copy or electronically from the Secretariat, or via the BCH website, where it can be downloaded as a PDF or MS Word document, or completed on-line. [please note that the survey closed on 17 September 2004]

BCH News Function

Thu, 05 Aug 2004 10:05:21 Z

Registered National Focal Points of the BCH may now submit their own national (or regional) biosafety news to be featured on the BCH. This new feature will allow governments to ensure that their information is circulated widely to all users of the BCH. Use the “Add News Item” button on the BCH news page after logging in via the Management Centre.

BCH Current Awareness Mailing List

Tue, 20 Jul 2004 00:00:00 Z

The BCH Current Awareness Mailing List is now in operation. This service sends out regular updates summarizing new information that has been added to the BCH, sent directly to users by email (or to a specified fax number). The categories of information to be included in the summaries, and the frequency of their delivery are individually customizable for each user. Please see the mailing list page for further information.

BCH webpage translations available

Tue, 18 May 2004 12:16:01 Z

Translation of the webpages and search functions of the Biosafety Clearing-House has been updated, and information is now available in all United Nations official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish and Russian. Languages are available by clicking on the language buttons at right-hand side of the red bar underneath the CBD logo (or left-hand side for Arabic).

Because of the dynamic nature of the BCH, the pages need to be regularly updated. Updates are undertaken quarterly, depending on the availability of funds.

Launch of the fully operational phase of the BCH

Fri, 02 Apr 2004 17:00:02 Z

Following the approval of the transition of the Pilot Phase of the BCH to the fully operational phase, the website has been revised and enhanced. New developments include:

Improved search facilities (such as a living modified organism “quick search” that can retrieve information using the common name of an organism, the unique identification, and/or the modified trait).

A search engine that indexes the thousands of pages of biosafety websites and allows users to carry out a keyword search across them.

Redesigned presentation of content and improved help facilities to assist users in finding information (such as national contacts, laws and regulations, decision information, capacity-building activities, biosafety experts, and other resources), including “quick help” and glossary links through the site.

Dynamic links to Biosafety Clearing-House news, the list of Parties to the Protocol, and new information on the Biosafety Protocol website.

Facilities to make links between decision information and risk assessment summaries when registering them with the BCH.

An about this site section providing background information about the BCH, including the modalities of operation of the BCH as adopted by COP/MOP-1.

Improved procedures to sign up for a BCH account.

Expanded facility to register the responsibilities of Competent National Authorities to include the type of living modified organism.

The Secretariat welcomes your feedback. Please email us at bch@biodiv.org.

The Operational Phase of the BCH adopted at COP-MOP1

Tue, 09 Mar 2004 15:04:25 Z

At its first meeting, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol approved the transition of the Pilot Phase of the Biosafety Clearing-House to the operational phase, and adopted the modalities of operation of the Biosafety Clearing-House in accordance with the Article 20 of the Protocol. The BCH Central Portal will be updated in the next few weeks to reflect these changes.

Downloading the simple national biosafety clearing-house application (nBCH)

Fri, 13 Feb 2004 22:14:43 Z

A Simple National Biosafety Clearing-House Application (nBCH) has been developed by the Secretariat and can now be downloaded through the BCH. The nBCH is a software tool designed to achieve the following goals:

Off-line BCH data entry
Many BCH users may not have a permanent or reliable Internet connection. The nBCH allows a user to enter national information locally even if Internet access is not available.
Data transfer to the Central Portal of the BCH
Once national information has been entered into the nBCH, the data can be transferred to the Central Portal of the BCH, either via Internet interoperability or via export options.
Reference tool for systems developers
Countries interested in setting up their National BCH node may find it useful to see how a simple stand-alone application can communicate with the Central Portal of the BCH. Systems developers have full access to the source code and are welcome to build their own application based on the interoperability logic used by the nBCH.

Updating user profiles

Fri, 13 Feb 2004 21:55:35 Z

BCH account holders can now edit their personal information in the "my profile" category that appears in the left-hand menu of the Management Centre after they have logged in. This facility enables users to specify, among other things, their preferred language and time zone, as well as managing other features such as enabling client certificate authentication.

BCH Forums now online

Tue, 16 Dec 2003 11:59:18 Z

The Biosafety Clearing-House discussion forums are a new tool the Secretariat is now offering in the effort to facilitate sharing of views and expertise on issues of relevance to the Biosafety Protocol, and in particular to assist people in the use of the BCH.

Registration and participation in the forums is freely available to all users, including governmental and non-governmental organisations, policy makers and the general public, although some topics are more relevant for specific categories of users, such as BCH National Focal Points. The discussions are broadly divided into General and Technical. The topics available at the moment are: Getting Started, User Support, Feature Requests, Capacity-Building, Interoperability and the Simple National BCH.

The forums are completely newsgroup-based and all users are requested to keep their posts strictly relevant to the topic at hand. The Secretariat moderates every list to ensure that spam and off-topic messages are not included in the posts. This may mean that there is a short delay (up to 24 hours) before your message shows up on the forum if it is your first post, and we apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact the Secretariat if you experience any difficulties in using the forums.

Capacity-building users groups now available

Mon, 17 Nov 2003 00:00:00 Z

In response to several requests by organizations involved in capacity-building acitivities, it is now possible for users belonging to the same organization to share the ownership of their records. Capacity-building organizations are invited to contact the Secretariat in order to create a "group" of users for their organization, each of whom will be able to edit, validate or delete the organization's records (rather than just the owner of the record, which was previously the case).

Competent National Authorities - summaries available in downloadable pdfs

Fri, 07 Nov 2003 00:00:00 Z

The list of designated Competent National Authorities has been added to the available downloadable documents. The list features the names of Competent National Authorities, their regulatory function and contact details. Together with lists of national focal points, points of contact for emergency measures and the report of the roster of experts, this list is updated daily.

BCH-NFPs have greater control over authorized users

Fri, 31 Oct 2003 00:00:00 Z

The administration section of the BCH Management Center has been revised to include more precisely defined and configurable users' roles. The most important change is in the division of responsibility of authorized users: BCH National Focal Points can now create authorised users with responsibility for all national records, or limit their access to one or more categories: focal points' contact details, laws and regulations, and/or decisions.

A new category of users called Registered Users is reserved for people or organizations registering records not linked to a country, i.e. bibliographic information and relevant websites.

Expansion of the BCH Thesaurus

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 00:00:00 Z

The CBD Secretariat has been working on expanding the BCH Thesaurus, to include more terms and more detailed definitions where possible. The translation of all terms to the six UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) continues and a new field has been added to describe the source of the translation of each term. Whenever the information is available, the translation is sourced from official multilingual thesauri, such as FAO's AGROVOC, UNEP's ENVOC and the authentic text of the Biosafety Protocol deposited with the Secretary-General of the UN.

Guidelines for National Participation in the Biosafety Clearing-House

Thu, 25 Sep 2003 00:00:00 Z

The Guidelines for National Participation in the Biosafety Clearing-House, prepared by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, have been sent today to all Cartagena Protocol Focal Points for the Parties to the Protocol and other Governments. The goal of the Guidelines is to inform Parties to the Cartagena Protocol about their obligations regarding the provision of required information to the BCH under Article 20 of the Protocol. The Guidelines have also been sent to the BCH National Focal Points, for their information.

Entry into force of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

Thu, 11 Sep 2003 00:00:00 Z

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety enters into force today. On 13 June this year, the Republic of Palau became the 50th State to ratify the Protocol, which triggered the countdown to the entry into force. To date, 57 States and the European Community have ratified it. Check the daily updated list on the CBD website. For information on the requirements that need to be fulfilled as at the date of entry into force of the Protocol, please refer to the notification sent to governments on 5 September 2003, available on the CBD Web site at: Notification 2003-93

Word form for registering national needs and priorities

Thu, 10 Jul 2003 00:00:00 Z

In order to assist developing countries and countries with economies in transition to assess their capacity-building needs and priorities for effective implementation of the Biosafety Protocol, the CBD Secretariat has created a common form, in Word, for registering information on capacity-building needs and priorities. The form was created for those countries which could not access it in electronic format in the BCH. It is based on elements identified in the capacity-building Action Plan. Developing countries and countries with economies in transition were requested to assess their needs and submit the form by 30 June 2003 (see Notification 2003-045).

So far 36 countries have responded to the request and the records specifying their capacity-building needs are now available in the BCH.

50th ratification of the Biosafety Protocol

Fri, 13 Jun 2003 00:00:00 Z

Ratification today by Palau triggers the countdown to the entry into force of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the first legally binding international agreement governing the movement of living modified organisms across national borders. It will take effect on 11 September 2003, ninety days from today.

At the date of entry into force, member countries of the Protocol will be required to use the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) to fulfill a number of specific obligations, among others to make available the name and contact details of one or more competent national authorities and one national focal point (Article 19), as well as the name and contact details of the contact point for notifications on unintentional transboundary movements and emergency measures (Article 17). For more details please see Notification issued on 16 June 2003.

Request to submit national capacity-building needs and priorities

Mon, 26 May 2003 00:00:00 Z

Developing countries and countries with economies in transition are requested to assess and submit to the Secretariat or to the BCH information on their capacity-building needs and priorities for effective implementation of the Biosafety Protocol. The Notification explaining different procedures for submitting identified national biosafety capacity-building needs and priorities can be accessed at the CBD website. The deadline for submitting this information is Friday, 30 June 2003.

BCH Tool-kit available for download

Thu, 01 May 2003 00:00:00 Z

BCH Toolkit - five tutorial modules created to help use and understand the BCH website are now available for download in all six UN languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

Recommendations of the Liaison Group of Technical Experts Meeting (10-11 April 2003)

Tue, 15 Apr 2003 00:00:00 Z

The Liaison Group of Technical Experts on the Biosafety Clearing-House met in Montreal from 10 to 11 April 2003. Twenty technical experts attended the meeting. The meeting was convened to provide advice to the Executive Secretary on the requirements for establishment of national components for participation in the Biosafety Clearing-House, and associated technical issues. Three main items were discussed: Status of implementation of the Biosafety Clearing-House; National experiences in using the pilot phase of the Biosafety Clearing-House; and Requirements for the establishment of national components for participation in the Biosafety Clearing-House, and associated technical issues.

A summary of the comments and main recommendations made by the Group are available here.

Expansion of BCH Glossary

Mon, 03 Mar 2003 00:00:00 Z

The BCH Glossary has been expanded and updated to assist users to more easily access and use the information in the Biosafety Clearing-House.

UNEP-GEF BCH Questionnaire

Wed, 19 Feb 2003 00:00:00 Z

The UNEP-GEF Biosafety Questionnaire on the BCH has been sent to the biosafety focal points, National Executing Agencies (NEAs) and National Project Coordinators (NPCs) of the UNEP-GEF Development and Implementation Projects. The deadline for responses is 28 February 2003.

Version 2.0 of the BCH Pilot Phase launched!

Sat, 01 Feb 2003 00:00:00 Z

Welcome to version 2.0 of the pilot phase of the Biosafety Clearing-House. This version of the website incorporates recommendations made by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (ICCP) at its third meeting, as well as feedback received so far from Governments and organizations that have participated in the development of the pilot phase.

New developments include:

Improved searching facilities and faster download times for the website.

Expansion of the capacity-building project and initiatives databases to include information on other available capacity-building opportunities, such as funding and training opportunities, as well as a facility for countries needing support to register their capacity-building needs and priorities.

Further development of the tool kit and other help functions of the BCH to include more in-depth training materials, targeted for different audiences.

Improvements to the BCH Management Centre, the web-based mechanism by which Governments and capacity-building organizations can register information.

Inclusion of a registry for unique identification of LMOs (which will be linked to the system being developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).

Access to (and interoperability with) more external databases, including the bibliographic database of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.

Documents, such as common formats for reporting information, provided in multiple formats (e.g. HTML, Word documents, PDF files).

The Secretariat welcomes your feedback. Please email us at bch@biodiv.org.