UN conference discusses liability rules
On Monday, the fourth UN conference on biological safety (MOP 4) began in Bonn. Representatives from 147 nations that have ratified the Cartagena Protocol will be discussing the implementation of this international agreement on the cross-border movement of living modified organisms (LMOs) until Friday. The main aim is to expand the scope of the agreement to include binding rules on liability and redress.
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The Chairman of the MOP4 conference, Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Ministry of Consumer Protection, Ursula Heinen, announced during the opening addresses that she was confident that the conference in Bonn would be able to reach an agreement on provisions for liability and redress. Ms Heinen emphasised that mankind has been modifying the genetic make-up of crop plants and animals through selection and crossing for thousands of years. Genetic technology is, she claims, opening up new possibilities for better food. Like all new technologies, though, it also holds risks for biodiversity. Ms Heinen stressed that the issue of liability is of central importance for the acceptance of agro-biotechnology in the population. The Chairman also called on the parties to show readiness to compromise so that the work of the Cartagena Protocol can receive sufficient financing. In 2007 genetically modified plants were grown on 114.3 million hectares in 23 countries. Trade in living GMO s, such as transgenic seed, has therefore become steadily more important over the years. In a working group of technical and legal experts, the parties to the Cartagena Protocol have been grappling for four years with international rules on liability and redress in accordance with Article 27 of the protocol. |
Immediately before the start of the UN conference, a "Friends of the Chair" group discussed the progress made so far. Among other things, the delegates deliberated on a proposal put forward by six leading biotech companies. The companies want to make a voluntary undertaking to compensate for damage to biodiversity that can be shown to have been caused by GMOs from a common fund. The "Friends of the Chair" group agreed on a draft definition of damage to, protection of and sustainable use of biodiversity. They also looked in detail at exceptions, temporal liability restrictions and damage cover. However, their suggested formulations contain numerous square brackets indicating text parts that are still contentious.
These can now be discussed by the conference delegates. The Executive Secretary to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Ahmed Djoghlaf, believes that the conference will end on Friday with success and that rules on liability and redress will be agreed on. Djoghlaf announced that postponing the decision was "not an option". Four years ago, the parties to the Cartagena Protocol had set themselves the objective of reaching an agreement by MOP 4. The credibility of the Cartagena Protocol was, he claimed, at stake.
Djoghlaf also mentioned the current food crisis, emphasising that in view of the global growth in the demand for food, existing resources would have to be put to optimum use. Biotechnology could make a considerable contribution to improving the supply of food. According to Djoghlaf, the Cartagena Protocol provides the international framework to ensure that the development takes place with the necessary care and not at the expense of human health or the environment.
Around 2000 participants are expected to attend the UN conference in Bonn. At the opening, anti-GMO protestors demonstrated with a tractor parade and banners against the use of genetic engineering in agriculture. In an alternative event lasting several days under the heading "planet diversity", farmers' representatives and representatives of development, consumer and environmental organisations intend to document their demand for a GM-free future in a "Planet Diversity Manifesto".
The Bonn Conference of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol will be followed by the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 9), which runs from 19 to 30 May.
More from GMO Safety
- Cartagena Protocol enters into force (20 June 2003)
- No agreement on international labelling rules (10 June 2005)
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