The Eighth Conference of the Parties (COP-8) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) closed its two-week meeting in Curitiba, Brazil, on 31 March with a participants and side-events. Much of the discussions on the more contentious issues, however, including those most immediately related to trade, focused more on process than substance. On access and benefit-sharing (ABS), Parties agreed on how to structure upcoming talks on an international ABS regime, setting 2010 as the deadline for the negotiations. On incentive measures, Parties effectively put related discussions on the backburner until the next COP when the incentives work program is up for an in-depth review
(Bridges Trade BioRes, Vol. 6/6, 3.4.06).