On Thursday morning, the Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) met in plenary to hear reports from the contact groups. The contact group on a draft decision to be considered by the Conference of the Parties (COP) met in the morning and in the afternoon. The contact group on the objective and main components met in the evening and continued discussions into the night. An informal meeting on capacity development for ABS convened by the Working Group Co-Chairs Timothy Hodges (Canada) and Fernando Casas (Colombia) was held during the lunch break.

Plenary Session

Working Group Co-Chair Timothy Hodges (Canada) reported on the COP Bureau’s support for the current process.

Contact group Co-Chair Pierre du Plessis (Namibia) reported on the deliberations of the contact group on the objective and main components.

Contactagreed to reference both decisions.

Informal negotiations in the plenary hall between Peru and Ecuador.

The African Group proposed referring to the role of parties and governments with regard to awareness-raising and capacity building.

Afternoon Session of the Contact Group on the Draft Decision

Chiho Horiuchi, Japan, proposed a paragraph inviting parties to fully utilize the Bonn Guidelines in the formulation of their national legislation.

David Hafashimana, Uganda, speaking for the African Group, noted such aninvitation is redundant as it repeats prior COP decisions.

Simon Rae, New Zealand, supported Japan's proposal for a paragraph on the Bonn Guidelines, but the paragraph remained bracketed.

Fernando Coimbra, Brazil, for the LMMC questioned the efficacy of a proposed paragraph requesting the Executive Secretary to commission a study to examine the feasibility, practicability and costs related to the implementation