On Wednesday, the Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol continued discussions on compliance. Co-Chair Casas explained that: parties to the Protocol are bound by international law to comply with all their obligations under the Protocol, noting that these obligations include compliance with the Protocol articles on domestic legislation and with mutually agreed terms; and if a party does not take these compliance-related measures, this is considered non-compliance under the Protocol and will be reviewed under the compliance mechanism to be established by the COP/MOP. Delegates debated whether this clarification should be reflected in the meeting report, or whether the relevant meeting document should be amended or withdrawn, with the Secretariat proposing to issue a revised version.

In the afternoon, delegations further discussed these options, as well as possible interpretations of Protocol Articles 15-16 and 18 on compliance with national legislation and mutually agreed terms, debating whether a differentiation should be made between States’ compliance with their international obligations under the Protocol, on the one hand, and users’ compliance at the domestic level, on the other. Delegates also exchanged views on the possible modalities of the compliance procedure and next steps.

The Committee reconvened in the evening, when delegates considered draft recommendations on the modalities of operation of the ABS Clearinghouse, and on capacity-building.