CropLife International represents a network of regional and national associations in 91 countries, and is led by companies such as BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont, FMC, Monsanto, Sumitomo and Syngenta
CropLife International and global Industry Coalition (GIC) have announced the publication of the first tool to aid governments, who wish to implement the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol (SP) on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
CropLife International is the global federation representing the plant science industry that develops, manufactures and sells products and services designed to improve the global production of food, feed, fibre and fuel in a sustainable way.
It represents a network of regional and national associations in 91 countries, and is led by companies such as BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont, FMC, Monsanto, Sumitomo and Syngenta.
“The plant science industry has developed this implementation guide to assist countries that do not have existing mechanisms at the domestic level to address suspected damage to biodiversity from living modified organisms (LMOs) in the unlikely event such damage occurs,” said Sarah Lukie, executive secretary of the GIC.
The SP was the culmination of a working group comprising government representatives, members of the academic sector, and non-governmental organisations engaged together in a dialogue in the context of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. It was adopted in October 2010. Its purpose is to provide uniform international rules and procedures on liability and redress for alleged damage to biodiversity resulting from LMOs.
“The guide is designed to aid governments in developing a system that conform to the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur SP. Our goal was to use as much of the language from the SP as possible to create a document that is accessible to a broader public,” he added.
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Pointing out that very often, during the negotiation processes in order to achieve consensus among the participants, the final language may not be as straightforward as one would wish, Lukie said the guide provided definitions of terms and provided examples of text, which could be considered by a government to amend or create domestic law.
“We look forward to working with countries that intend to ratify and implement the SP and assisting them in their national efforts through the use of this guide,” he said.
Today, biotech crops are grown on 160 million hectare in 29 countries, including several major agricultural exporting countries. Guidelines on the import, transfer, handling, and domestic use of LMOs, including how to address damage to biological diversity, can have significant impact on international trade, Lukie said.