What is the difference between the Biosafety Clearing-House and the Clearing-House Mechanism?
The main difference between the BCH and the CHM is that it is an obligation for all Contracting Parties to use the BCH as the only recognized means to make available information required under the Protocol. The BCH serves a fundamental and basic function of the Protocol and the Parties could not implement the Protocol without the BCH. The CHM, on the other hand, is a mechanism established to facilitate Parties to cooperate technically and scientifically, but it is not mandatory for them to use the CHM in order to do so.
