Biotech Updates

International GMO Liability Treaty: Agreement After Six Years

October 22, 2010

The 5th Meeting of the Parties for the Cartagena Protocol has successfully approved an International GMO Liability Treaty which was adopted at the last day of the Conference held in Nagoya, Japan from 11 to 15 October 2010. Named, the Kuala Lumpur-Nagoya Supplementary Protocol, the Treaty which has been under negotiation for six years "establishes an internationally binding claim for countries importing GMOs to make the responsible producer in the exporting country liable for any possible damage caused by the imported GMOs", the press release said.

The Supplementary Protocol comes into force when at least 40 states have ratified it. It will be open for signature at the United Nations Headquarters in New York starting March 2011.

For details of the news, see http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/news/542.docu.html