ABSTRACT
Timely intervention by the Third World Network, Genetic Resources Action Information, Rural Advancement Foundation International and Greenpeace is widely credited to have led to the call by the G-77 and China for work to begin on an internationally binding protocol and for the Conference of the Parties to endorse their request. A different and weaker notification procedure is made applicable to genetically modified organisms (GMO) that are intended for food, feed and processing. Liability and compensation provisions are left for subsequent negotiations. The outpouring of enthusiasm that greeted the adoption of the biosafety protocol in the freezing early hours of Saturday 29 January 2000 in Montreal concealed the immense difficulty involved in achieving the accord. The advance informed agreement provisions are applicable only to GMOs intended for direct introduction into the environment; those intended for contained use are excluded.
