C&EN: TODAY'S HEADLINES - PROTOCOL ON BIOTECH FOODS

BETTE HILEMAN

PRISTINE Treaty aims to protect biodiversity from GM organisms.

PHOTODISC

On June 13, Palau became the 50th country to ratify the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, making the agreement eligible to enter into force in 90 days. The protocol seeks to protect biological diversity by establishing procedures for the safe transfer, handling, and use of genetically modified (GM) organisms.

The protocol, negotiated in January 2000 and eventually signed by 103 countries, is a supplementary agreement to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. The U.S. is not a party to the convention and therefore not eligible to ratify the protocol.

The accord establishes a procedure for ensuring that countries are provided with information necessary to make informed decisions before agreeing to the first import of transgenic plants and animals that are to be introduced into the environment. Exporters of GM organisms will have to give advanced notification to importing countries that are parties to the protocol. The notification must include an exact identification of each strain of plant or animal included in the shipment. Countries will have the right to refuse shipments with GM content if there is scientific uncertainty about its effects on health or the environment.

“Grain and feed traders will have to do somewhat more paperwork under the protocol, but not much more than what the U.S. requires under antiterrorism legislation,” says Gary R. Blumenthal, president of World Perspectives, a consulting firm that provides advice to the agri-food industries. “On the other hand,” he says, “the agreement will give countries even more legitimacy to block trade in biotech products. Those who want genetically modified products will say they are okay. But those who don’t want them will use the accord as a rationalization for keeping them out.”