Cartagena protocol

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international agreement which aims to ensure the safe handling, transport and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health. It was adopted on 29 January 2000 and entered into force on 11 September 2003.

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・Exporter or exporting country of LMOs that are used for intentional introduction into the environment, for example cultivation, have to announce their partners in advance. Importing countries assess the effect of the LMOs on biological diversity and then decide whether or not they approve the importation based on AIA procedure. ・In regards to the genetically modified crops for the use as food, feed, or for processing, the AIA procedure is not required. However, when domestic utilization is decided, the information must be shared through BCH (Information System). ・It also provides for rules about handling, packing and identification of exporting LMOs.

This guide has been prepared by the IUCN Environmental Law Programme and the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD), in cooperation with the World Resources Institute (WRI). The main goal of the guide is to facilitate the understanding of the obligations of Parties to the Protocol, by providing an information base on the content and origin of the Protocol provisions, accessible to the non-specialist and useful for those who will be involved in the development and implementation of national safety frameworks.

The • Preamble: Parties acknowledge that “special provision is required to meet the needs of developing countries, including the provision of new and additional financial resources and appropriate access to relevant technologies” and, in this regard, note “the special conditions of the least developed countries and small island States”. • Article 20.5: Parties commit to taking “full account of the specific needs and special situation of least developed countries in their actions with regard to funding and transfer of technology”. The Convention has two protocols, both of which take into account the needs of, and commit to cooperating with, developing countries and “in particular” those of LDCs and other groups of countries such as SIDS and Parties with Economies in transition: • Nagoya Protocol on Access to Generic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization: Parties committed to taking into account the needs of, and cooperating with, developing country Parties and “in particular” LDCs, SIDS and Parties with economies in transition (Article 22 on capacity; Article 23 on technology transfer, collaboration and cooperation; Article 25 on Financial Mechanisms and Resources). • Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity (governs the movements of living modified organisms – LMOs – resulting from modern biotechnology from one country to another): In regard to the establishment of a Biosafety Clearing-House...