Background - September 28, 2004
Upon its entry into force on September 11, 2003 a number of specific provisions of the Protocol took effect immediately, including the following:
Greenpeace activists put pile of normal (not genetically engineered) soya in front of Unilever building.
· Each Party is required to take necessary and appropriate
legal, administrative and other measures to implement its
obligations under the Protocol and the Parties are required to
ensure that the development, handling, transport, use, transfer and
release of any GMOs are undertaken in a manner that prevents or
reduces the risks to biological diversity, taking also into account
risks to human health.
· Exporting countries shipping GMOs for intentional introduction
into the environment will have to give prior notification to the
importing country that is a Party to the Protocol under the Advance
Informed Agreement procedure and provide sufficient information to
enable them to make informed decisions.
· Shipments of GMOs intended for intentional introduction to the
environment will have to be identified in accompanying
documentation as GMOs with specification of the identity and
characteristics and with a declaration that "the movement is in
conformity with the requirements of the Protocol.
· Likewise, shipments of GMO commodities intended for direct use
for food, feed or processing will, until further rules are
developed, have to be identified in accompanying documentation that
they 'may contain' GMOs and are 'not intended for intentional
introduction into the environment'.
· Any Party that approves for domestic use and marketing GMOs
intended for direct use as food, feed or processing that may be
exported will be required to communicate this decision and details
about the GMO to the world community via an electronic,
web-accessible database: the
Biosafety Clearing-House.
The first ever Meeting of the Parties (MOP 1) took place in
Kuala Lumpur in February 2004, during the which governments adopted
several measures of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. To find
out in detail about which measures are now in practice read this
article from the Third World
Network that outlines the conclusions of the meeting.