As BioTrade/UNCTAD activities are being implemented worldwide, there is a constant need to define and measure its contribution to sustainable development and the conservation/sustainable use of biodiversity in a harmonized and structured manner, thus the development of the BioTrade Impact Assessment System (BT IAS) to address this need.
In 2006, UNCTAD commissioned a consultant to develop an Impact Assessment System for BioTrade. Several consultations took place in South America with BioTrade programmes, certification agencies, government representatives, cooperation agencies and experts. During these consultations, the process and method to define the main elements of the system and the definition of the basic tools to identify, collect and analyze the data that will be included were adjusted and validated based on the feedback received.
In order to continue with consultations to further develop the system, particularly in Africa, a technical workshop was organized in Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa, on 6 and 7 November, 2008. It provided a platform to discuss the indicators and guidelines suggested for the BT IAS as well as receive valuable inputs from our BioTrade partners on how best to proceed in defining possible next steps for its implementation and testing.
