Biotech Updates

World Meeting on LMO Biosafety Opens in Hyderabad, India

October 3, 2012

The sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity which also served as the meeting of Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP 6) commenced on 1 October 2012 at the Convention Centre in Hyderabad, India. The opening session was attended by around 1,200 participants representing the government, civil society, and industry.

The meeting aims to review the implementation of the Protocol and add new guidelines to guarantee safe transport, handling, and utilization of living modified organisms (LMOs). The delegates will also tackle various issues surrounding LMOs such as capacity building, risk assessment, and socio-economic considerations. The decisions are expected to follow the vision of the Strategic Plan of the Protocol which is to make biodiversity sufficiently protected from any diverse effects of the LMOs.

Read the press release at http://www.cbd.int/doc/press/2012/pr-2012-10-02-mop6-en.pdf?dowload. For more updates about the conference, visit http://bch.cbd.int/mop6/.