ABSTRACT
The draft was a complete text of a biosafety protocol from an African perspective, and it included an extensive article on liability and compensation. The proposed rules on liability were much influenced by the International Law Commission Draft Articles of 1991 on Liability for Injurious Consequences of Acts Not Prohibited by International Law, which basically envisage that a state of origin will be strictly liable for harm to the environment. The negotiations on liability and redress were particularly chilly, as there was a stunned silence from the delegates of the industrialized countries every time the issue was raised. The Ethiopian delegation and many other African delegations knew how much the issue of liability and redress had been fraught with political, legal and technical difficulties. The negotiations on liability and redress were particularly chilly, as there was a stunned silence from the delegates of the industrialized countries every time the issue was raised.
