Expert Meeting on the Modalities of Operation of the Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House

From: Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity

To: CBD Focal Points, ABS Focal Points, International organizations, indigenous and local community organizations and relevant stakeholders

Subject: Expert Meeting on the Modalities of Operation of the Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House, 11-14 April 2011, Montreal, Canada

Thematic area: Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-sharing

Ref.: SCBD/ABS/VN/SG/74725

NOTIFICATION

No. 2011-009

Madam/Sir,

Article 14 of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing establishes an Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House (ABS Clearing-House) as part of the clearing-house mechanism under Article 18, paragraph 3 of the Convention. The ABS Clearing-House is a means for the sharing of information related to access and benefit-sharing and it shall provide access to information made available by each Party relevant to the implementation of the Protocol.

In accordance with Decision X/1, paragraph 12 and Annex II, the Open-ended Ad-hoc Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing will consider the modalities of operation of the ABS Clearing-House, including reports on its activities, at its first meeting, from 6 to 10 June 2011. In preparation for this first meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee, I am pleased to inform you that an Expert Meeting will be held on the modalities of operation of the ABS Clearing-House, from 11-14 April 2011, in Montreal, Canada, thanks to the generous financial contribution of the European Commission. The meeting will be held in the English language.

The expert meeting will focus on practical considerations related to the establishment of the ABS Clearing-House with a view to provide input to the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee and to assist countries with the early ratification and implementation of the Nagoya Protocol. The meeting will build on existing experience and lessons learned from the establishment of other clearing house mechanisms, in particular the Biosafety Clearing-House. The report of the expert meeting will be made available to the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for its consideration.

Documents for the meeting, including an information note for participants, will be made available as soon as practicable on the website of the Convention at the following address: http://www.cbd.int/meetings/.

Nomination and Selection of Experts/Observers

The group of experts will be regionally balanced and composed of 8 experts per region selected on the basis of nominations by Parties. In addition, 10 observers from international organizations and agreements, industry, research institutions and/or academia, botanical gardens and other ex situ collection holders, non-governmental organizations and indigenous and local communities will also be invited to participate.

Each Party is invited to nominate one expert. International organizations and agreements, industry, research institutions and/or academia, botanical gardens and other ex situ collection holders, non-governmental organizations and indigenous and local communities are also invited to nominate one expert as an observer to the meeting. The deadline for nominations is 18 February 2011.

Nominated experts should have knowledge in the fields of access and benefit-sharing, and practical experience with regard to information-sharing and knowledge management systems and the establishment of clearing-houses. The curriculum vitae of the nominated experts/observers should be included with the nominations submitted to the Secretariat.

Based on the nominations received, the Executive Secretary in consultation with the Bureau, will select participants in the meeting. As per usual practice, the experts will be selected on the basis of their expertise, the need to ensure fair and equitable geographical distribution, as well as gender balance.

Nominations should be submitted through an official letter addressed to the Executive Secretary by fax to +1 514 288 6588, or by email as a scanned attachment to: secretariat@cbd.int.

The full text of this notification is available on the CBD website at: http://www.cbd.int/doc/notifications/2011/ntf-2011-009-abs-chm-en.pdf

Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Ahmed Djoghlaf
Executive Secretary
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity
United Nations Environment Programme
413 Saint-Jacques Street, Suite 800
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
H2Y 1N9

Tel: +1 514 288 2220
Faxx: +1 514 288 6588
E-mail: secretariat@cbd.int
Web: http://www.cbd.int

Deadline extended until January 23 to apply for the workshop: Capacity Building for Indigenous and Local Communities, of the Caribbean region.

Deadline extended until January 23 to apply for the workshop: Capacity Building for Indigenous and Local Communities, of the Caribbean region.

Se amplía el plazo hasta el 23 de Enero para postular al taller: Creación de Capacidad para las Comunidades Indígenas y Locales, región Caribe.


Eighth Round Capacity Building Workshop for Indigenous and Local Communities, the Caribbean region

The Secretary of Biodiversity in collaboration with the Network of Indigenous Women's Biodiversity (IWBN) from the Latin America and the Caribbean, thanks to the generous financial support from the Government of Spain, a regional capacity building workshop for indigenous and local community representatives on effective participation in CBD processes, with a specific focus on Article 8(j) and ABS.will be held in Georgetown, from 16-18 March 2011.

The workshop aims at building and strengthening capacity for indigenous and local community women in order to ensure their full and effective participation in CBD processes and also to grow and strengthen the number of indigenous and local community women who follow and are involved in CBD processes by enlarging networks and outreaching to new participants.

We are inviting interested indigenous and local community organizations from the countries of the Caribbean region to nominate representatives by sending to the Secretariat an expression of interest or nomination by means of an official letter of designation addressed to the attention of the Executive Secretary (fax +1 514 288 6588 or to email: secretariat@cbd.int with a recent curriculum vitae of the nominee by 23 January 2011, for consideration in the selection process.

Participants selected will be notified by mid-February. Successful applicants will be provided with economy air travel to and from Georgetown, and subsistence and accommodation costs during the event.

Hortencia Hidalgo
Comunicación RMIB-LAC
comunicacionrmib.lac@gmail.com


Convocatoria Octavo taller Creación de Capacidad para las Comunidades
Indígenas y Locales, región Caribe.

La Secretaria de Diversidad Biológica en colaboración con la Red de Mujeres Indígenas sobre Biodiversidad (RMIB) de la región Latinoamérica y el Caribe, con el apoyo financiero del Gobierno de España, realiza el Taller de creación de capacidad subregional para los representantes de las comunidades indígenas y locales sobre la participación efectiva en los procesos del CDB, con un enfoque específico en el Articulo 8 (j), Conocimientos Tradicionales y Acceso y participación en los beneficios ABS. Se celebrara en la Ciudad de Georgetown, Guyana, del 16 al 18 de
Marzo de 2011.

El taller tiene como objetivo la construcción y al fortalecimiento de la capacidad de las mujeres de las comunidades indígenas y locales, a fin de garantizar su participación plena y efectiva en el proceso del CDB y, también para aumentar y fortalecer el número de mujeres de las comunidades indígenas y locales que siguen de cerca y participan en los procesos del CDB engrandeciendo las redes y los contactos directos con nuevos participantes.

Invitamos a las organizaciones de las comunidades indígenas y locales interesadas para que designen representantes enviando a la Secretaría una muestra de interés y un nombramiento, mediante una carta oficial de designación y un currículum vitae reciente. La carta oficial debe ir dirigida al Secretario Ejecutivo por fax al +1 514 288 6588 ó por correo electrónico como archivo adjunto escaneado a: secretariat@cbd.int antes del 23 de Enero de 2011, para ser considerados en el proceso de selección.

Los participantes serán seleccionados en base a una representación subregional justa de los países del Caribe y los Curriculum Vitae pertinentes y la capacidad para difundir la información derivada del taller.

Los participantes seleccionados recibirán financiamiento para participar en este taller de tres días y serán notificados a mediados de Febrero. A los Participantes seleccionados se les proveerá de un pasaje de avión en clase económica ida y vuelta a la Ciudad de Georgetown, y los gastos de comida y alojamiento durante el evento.

Hortencia Hidalgo
Comunicación RMIB-LAC
comunicacionrmib.lac@gmail.com

Opening Statement of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus

Opening Statement of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus
at the XIII Meeting of Negotiations in the Quest for Points of Consensus of the Working Group to Prepare the Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Washington D.C.
January 18 to the 20, 2011

Mr. Michel Arregui, Legal Affairs Secretary of the OAS, Ambassador Guillermo Cochez, Permanent Representative of Panama to the OAS, and Chairman of the Working Group, Dinah Shelton, rapporteur of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, distinguished representatives of States of the Organization of American States, and my Indigenous brothers and sisters.

My name is Grand Chief Edward John, Hereditary Chief of the Tl'azt'en Nation and representative of the First Nations Summit and the Assembly of First Nations. I am also the new North American Indigenous representative to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

On behalf of Indigenous Peoples in the Americas who are participating in the XIII Session of Negotiations for the Quest of Consensus for the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we look forward to the conclusion of the negotiation of the draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

While we are negotiating this draft American Declaration, violations against collective human rights of our peoples continue in many states. Examples were brought to the Indigenous caucus including from Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Argentina. In defending our territorial rights against mega projects and extractive industries our peoples are persecuted, criminalized and in some cases forcibly evicted. In this regard, we denounce the repressive military actions of Chile against the Rapa Nui people, including women and children, who are struggling to defend their lands. We strongly and urgently recommend good faith negotiations to resolve this crisis. We also deplore the violent displacement against the Toba community La Primavera in Argentina and the lack of response to this situation.

For Indigenous women, gender based violence continues to be shaped by discrimination. Also militarization, racism and social exclusion, poverty inducing economic policies contribute to the systemic violence of our collective rights.

These contradict the most basic principles of human rights and democracy which guide the OAS and its member states. We strongly urge the Inter-american Commission on Human Rights and its relevant rapporteurships to act promptly and effectively to investigate and propose solutions to these violations on an urgent basis.

As Indigenous peoples with historic relationships with states in the Americas we participate as Indigenous peoples, governments and nations in our own right, not as civil society. We call for the establishment of effective participation mechanisms for Indigenous peoples in all entities of the Inter-American system, the Summit of the Americas and in particular the summit in Cartagena in 2012.

In a similar vein, we urge the OAS to support the full and equal participation of Indigenous representation in the planning and implementation of the 2014 UN World Conference of Indigenous Peoples including the outcome document.

We respectfully remind all delegates that in this Working Group a commitment has been made to ensure that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is being used as “the baseline for negotiations and … a minimum standard” for the draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In these negotiations we urge a holistic approach as we know our survival and well being is inextricably linked to the survival and well being of Mother Earth.

We welcome the recent endorsement of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the governments of Colombia, Canada and the United States of America. We emphasize that the UN Declaration is now a consensus instrument and we call on all states to engage in its full and effective implementation and ensure no state withdraws from implementation. We also encourage all States who have not done so, to ratify the ILO Convention 169.

The Indigenous Peoples’ caucus reminds states, financial institutions and international corporations of the principle of free, prior and informed consent which must be respected in all situations concerning Indigenous peoples. We call upon states to recognize, respect and implement positions adopted by Indigenous peoples in climate change negotiations. Indigenous peoples have knowledge to contribute to slow down the destruction of Mother Earth.

We thank those governments which contribute to the Specific Fund, making possible our participation in these negotiations. We call upon States to continue contributing with funds for the development of future meetings of negotiation that will allow us to conclude the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. There is a need for funding for the technical team and co-chairs, in addition to the delegates. We note that only two member states contributed to the Specific Fund, and two observer states. Other member states must show commitment by donating to the Specific Fund.

Finally, as Indigenous peoples we reiterate our commitment and call upon the member States of the OAS, as committed to in paragraph 86 of the Declaration of the Port of Spain, to work for a successful conclusion of the negotiations of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The American Declaration should be finalized before the Summit of the Americas in 2012. In order for this to succeed, we repeat that there is a critical need for all States to contribute more money to the Specific Fund. We respectfully remind states that the General Assembly has renewed the mandate of this Working Group and we need to meet as frequently as the mandate dictates.

Indigenous Peoples Meet in Washington DC to Discuss Rights Declaration

Some of the Caribbean Indigenous delegation meeting at the Organization of American States in Washington, DC. From left to right - Dr. George Norton, Liselote Naniki Reyes Ocasio, Cleis Tavarez Maria, Eveline Moesijem Monstanto, and Zoila Maria Ellis.

Washington, DC (UCTP Taino News) – The 13th Meeting of Negotiations in the Quest for Points of Consensus on the OAS draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples began today in Washington, DC. The Meeting of Negotiations will take place at the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) from January 18 to 20, 2011.

Among the Indigenous Peoples representatives present at the negotiations are a delegation of Caribbean Indigenous Peoples including Liselote Naniki Reyes Ocasio (Borikén/ Puerto Rico), Damon Gerard Corrie (Barbados), Dr. George Aubrey Norton (Guyana), Clenis Tavárez María (Kiskeia/Dom. Rep.), Zoila Maria Ellis (St. Vincent and the Grenadines), and Eveline Moesijem Monsanto (Suriname).

Some points of discussion expected to be covered at this session include: Rights of association and assembly, Indigenous law and jurisdiction, contributions of the indigenous legal and organizational systems, treaties, and Indigenous spirituality.

UCTPTN 01.18.2011

A Synopsis of the Indigenous Caucus of the Americas

A PRESS RELEASE FROM THE PAN-TRIBAL CONFEDERACY OF INDIGENOUS TRIBAL NATIONS

Reporting from the Organisation of American States, Washington DC, USA., 17th January 2011

A Synopsis of the Indigenous Caucus of the Americas preview meetings of January 15th-17th 2011 at the Padilha Vidal Room of the Organization of American States building at 1889 F. Street N.W. Washington DC; USA.

OAS
The highly respected Mr. Luis Toro of the Department of International Law at the Organization of American States (OAS) delivered the opening address made mention of a great many details, one of which was his personal observation that over the last 3 years "More high ranking OAS diplomats have been attending the sessions to negotiate for points of consensus with members of the Indigenous Caucus on the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas". The Caucus was reminded that work began on the Draft Declaration in 1999, and that 37 Indigenous leaders/representatives from throughout the Hemisphere who collectively form the Indigenous Caucus of the Americas core membership were directly funded by the OAS to attend this 13th session.It was also noted by Mr. Luis Toro that of these 37 only 3 were singularly recommended/suggested - and all 3 were delegates from the Caribbean Islands.

CARIBBEAN CONTINGENT
At the 13th Session the Caribbean region had 8 of the 37 OAS sponsored Indigenous representations, and is represented by delegates from Barbados, Dominica (who unfortunately could not attend at the last minute due to illness) Dominican Republic, Guyana, Puerto Rico, St. Vincent, Suriname and Trinidad.

RAPANUI SURPRISE APPEAL
On Sunday 16th January 2011 a two-man delegation of Rapanui made a surprise appeal for support from the d Indigenous Caucus of the Americas to assist them in their plight with a rogue element in the Executive branch of the Government of Chile headed by none other than the President of Chile himself and his cohorts in commerce - the Schiess family of Germany who illegally own Rapanui ancient sites for private commercial profit via their tourism enterprises. The true landlords - namely the Rapanui people themselves had peacefully reoccupied their ancestral lands which were illegally sold to the Schiess family by the government of Chile (who themselves stole the island from the Rapanui through brute force in 1888).

The President of Chile ordered police commandos to forcibly remove the Rapanui activists and they did so with brutality, Rapanui Santi Hitorangi was forced to flee his homeland to save his own life when he was earmarked for assassination by the Police Commando forces occupying his island.

In Santi's address he eloquently explained the plight of the Rapanui People, and the Indigenous Caucus was deeply shocked and saddened to know that despite the Judiciary of Chile being on the side of the Rapanui - the President of an allegedly democratic country (such as Chile purports to be) - the President of Chile is behaving like a criminal thug of the ignoble Pinocht era more suited to head a Mafia crime family than a respected member country of the Organization of American States.

HONDURAS
We were informed by a high level OAS official that the indigenous representative for Honduras who was selected by the OAS to attend this 13th session was unable to attend because of persecution from rogue elements of the Government of Honduras (an OAS member State) which forced the representative to go into hiding for reasons of personal safety.

COLOMBIA
Bogota Colombia was selected to be the location for the proposed (not confirmed by funding yet) 14th session of the OAS - tentatively slated for March 2011, and April 14th-15th 2012 is the date earmarked for the 4th Indigenous Leaders Summit of the Americas - also slated to be held in Colombia.

UN
The fact that now every single country in the world is supporting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was revealed. The Draft American Declaration will be tailored (based on the UN Declaration and using it is a minimum standard) to the specific situation of the Indigenous Peoples of the Western Hemisphere.

CANADA & THE USA
Whilst both recently seemingly having a change of heart (for public consumption) and now 'supporting' the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (they were until recently the ONLY two countries opposing it).

Indigenous Lawyers from both countries who sit on the Indigenous Caucus of the Americas revealed to the body the numerous covert ways that both countries have domestically watered-down the legal usefulness of the UN Declaration they publicly profess to support, by making it 'subject to interpretation through their neo-colonialist National Judicial apparatus (a common ploy by many OAS member states); and they both are wont to point to the 'hundreds of millions of dollars they earmark for Indigenous use annually in their National Budgets... as if trying to say "Sure we are illegally denying AND cheating you of your internationally recognized rights - BUT we ARE spending lots of money in your name on cosmetic solutions for you - so you guys should shut-up and be happy!".

PERU
The Indigenous representative from Peru informed the Caucus that generally speaking the non-Indigenous Peruvian Government and citizenry are very fond of using the great achievements of ancient Indigenous Peruvians as a source of National Pride (and tourism revenue), but when ACTUAL modern day Indigenous Peruvians stand up for their long denied rights in Peru - they are reviled as 'damned Indian Dogs' by the SAME non-Indigenous Peruvians.

ECUADOR
The Indigenous representatives from Ecuador selected by the OAS to attend this 13th session were accused by persons in the left-leaning Government of Ecuador (an OAS member State) of being 'CIA operatives' because the OAS headquarters are in Washington DC - and because the OAS had paid all the traveling and accommodation expenses of these representatives (which is something the OAS does for ALL 37 Indigenous representatives they sponsor on the Indigenous Caucus of the Americas).

EL SALVADOR, SURINAME, TRINIDAD & BELIZE
All four of these OAS member states who 'support' the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (of the World) have still curiously not seen fit to re-write their own National Constitutions which still ILLEGALLY deny the very existence of Indigenous Peoples (and therefore their territories as well) in their own countries!

4 REGIONAL CO-CHAIRS GENDER BALANCED AT 13th SESSION
Of the 4 co-chairs of the Indigenous Caucus of the Americas at the 13th Session in the quest for points of consensus 2 are men and 2 are women. Representing the South America region as Co-Chair is Mr. Jaime Arias Arias - a respected National Indigenous Leader in Colombia. Representing the Central America region as Co-Chair is Mr. Hector Huertas - a prominent Indigenous Kuna Lawyer from Panama. Both men are bi-lingual in their own native languages as well as Spanish. Representing the North America region is Mrs.Tonya Frischner - a respected Onondaga Indigenous rights activist and former member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from the USA, Mrs. Frischner is bi-lingual in her native language as well as English.

Representing the Caribbean Region is Mrs. Zoyla Ellis Brown - a respected Garifuna Indigenous Lawyer from St. Vincent, Mrs. Ellis-Brown is the only tri-lingual Co-Chair - being a fluent speaker of her own native language, English and Spanish.


DONOR COUNTRIES THAT MADE THE 13th SESSION POSSIBLE
Mexico and Nicaragua were the only OAS member states that financially contributed to make the present 13th round of negotiations for the points of consensus on the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas possible. The only other financial contributors were the governments of two non-OAS countries that only have Official Observer status at the OAS - namely the Governments of Spain and France.

CLOSING ADDRESS
Grand Chief Ed John of the Assembly of First Nations of Canada - and now a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, spoke last at the close of the 3 day Indigenous Caucus preview meeting on 17th January 2011. The Grand Chief's delivered what was considered by many to be the most moving address of all the Indigenous Caucus members who opted to speak over the 3 days. He reminded the gathered Indigenous leaders and representatives that "We are gathered here to inject our heart and soul into our words, not hide behind diplomatic language to please Bureaucrats! All of us gathered here have a responsibility not only to the present generation of our peoples - but untold future generations yet to come!"

First meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing

Date: 10 January 2011

From: Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity
To: Indigenous and local community organizations

Subject: First meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (ICNP 1), Montreal, Canada, 6-10 June 2011

Thematic area: Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-sharing
Ref.: SCBD/ABS/VN/SG/74645

NOTIFICATION
No. 2011-006


Madam/Sir,

I am pleased to confirm that the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (ICNP) will be held in Montreal, Canada, on 6-10 June 2011.

The provisional agenda of the meeting is attached for your information and is available on the CBD website at: http://www.cbd.int/meetings/. Other documents for the meeting as well as the information note for participants will be made available as soon as practicable on the website of the Convention at the same address.

In view of your interest in the issues addressed by the Intergovernmental Committee, I have the honour of inviting your organization to nominate a representative to attend the meeting. Designation of representatives, containing their name and contact details, should be submitted through an official letter addressed to the Executive Secretary by fax to +1 514 288 6588, or by email as a scanned attachment to: secretariat@cbd.int, no later than 8 April 2011.

Indigenous and local communities representatives wishing to receive funding from the Voluntary Trust Fund to facilitate their participation in the above-mentioned meeting, in accordance with decision 8/5, D on the Voluntary Funding Mechanism to facilitate the participation of indigenous and local communities in the work of the Convention, are invited to submit their application forms no later than 4 March 2011 to ensure that it is received three months before the meeting. Applications received after the deadline may not be considered.

In addition, please note that the Secretariat will be organising a capacity-building workshop on the Nagoya Protocol back to back with the meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee on 4-5 June 2011. Further information regarding this workshop will be provided to you in due course. Applicants from indigenous and local communities who wish to participate in the workshop should indicate this in their application so that this can be taken into consideration in the selection process.

The Voluntary Trust Fund application forms are available in the six official languages of the United Nations on the CBD website at the following link: https://www.cbd.int/traditional/fund.shtml. The completed application forms should be sent to the Secretariat either by fax to: +1 514 288 6588, or by electronic mail as a scanned attachment to: secretariat@cbd.int, together with a recent Curriculum Vitae and an official letter of recommendation from the relevant organization addressed to the Executive Secretary of the CBD.

I look forward to the participation of your organization in the meeting and your continued contribution to the work of the Convention.

The full text of this notification is available on the CBD website at: http://www.cbd.int/doc/notifications/2011/ntf-2011-006-abs-icnp1-ilc-en.pdf

Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Ahmed Djoghlaf
Executive Secretary
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity
United Nations Environment Programme
413 Saint-Jacques Street, Suite 800
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
H2Y 1N9

Tel: +1 514 288 2220
Fax: +1 514 288 6588
E-mail: secretariat@cbd.int
Web: http://www.cbd.int

==========================================

First meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (ICNP 1), Montreal, Canada, 6-10 June 2011

PROVISIONAL AGENDA

1. Opening of the meeting.

2. Organizational matters.

3. Modalities of operation of the Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House.

4. Measures to assist in capacity-building, capacity development and strengthening of human capacities and institutional capacities in developing countries.

5. Measures to raise awareness of the importance of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.

6. Cooperative procedures and institutional mechanisms to promote compliance with the Protocol and to address cases of non-compliance.

7. Other matters.

8. Adoption of the report.

9. Closure of the meeting.