BIOTECH PROTOCOL CLOSER TO
RATIFICATION
Sixty-two countries and the European Union
signed the Cartegena Protocol -- which
introduces new regulations for trade in
genetically modified organisms (GMOs) -- at
a May 2000 meeting of the Convention on
Biological Diversity in Nairobi. In
January, 135 countries had agreed to this
UN Protocol in Montreal (see LINK 92). The
Protocol will go into force only after it
has been ratified by legislatures in 50
countries, a procedure expected to take at
least two years.
The agreement requires the labelling of
anything made with or containing GMOs. For
some items, exporters will also have to
inform importers in advance if their
product contains GMOs, and governments or
importers will then have the right to
refuse these shipments.
Friends of the Earth and others remain
critical of the process due to ongoing
resistance during negotiations by the
so-called Miami Group, which consists of
the world's biggest GMO exporters including
the United States, Canada, Australia and
Argentina. The Protocol has numerous weak
points, including the fact that many poorer
countries lack the technology to test if
crops have been contaminated by GMOs.
Furthermore, although the Protocol says
that offenders of the new rules will be
penalized, it does not say how. The
protocol is similarly vague when it comes
to liability and regulation.
Of the Miami group governments, only
Argentina has signed the agreement as of
yet, although the United States has stated
that it will abide by the Protocol.
Ultimately, the Protocol should help to
avoid situations like the accidental
contamination of oilseed rape crops with
GMOs in May this year.
Source: UN agreement on GM foods signed
by 62 nations, Reuters News Service, 25 May
2000 and FoE Chile press release.
