ABSTRACT
The Cartagena meeting was the first time an international environmental negotiation had collapsed and failed to reach agreement. Crucial information on risk assessment, import decisions, national authorizations and national legislation, all central to the protocol’s effective functioning, will be available primarily through Biosafety Clearing-House established under the protocol. Scientific evidence, often fiercely contested, about the types of risk posed by living modified organisms (LMO) or particular categories of LMO became available during the course of the negotiations, and will no doubt continue to emerge. The principles and approaches developed under the biosafety protocol may well influence other areas of the international transfer of potentially hazardous technologies, products and substances. The biotechnology industry and environmental and development NGOs made significant contributions to the biosafety negotiations.
