ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates how the biosafety protocol may be utilized by Panel and Appellate Bodies to interpret a number of concrete World Trade Organization (WTO) legal provisions that may well come into play in disputes about trade and biosafety. There is a widespread public perception that efforts by democratic governments to regulate environmental matters are coming into conflict with rules on free trade of the WTO. The WTO Appellate Body has emphasized the importance of using international law and policy on biodiversity. The precautionary principle has been explicitly incorporated into the Cartagena Protocol at a number of points. The biosafety protocol requires living modified organisms (LMO) intended for direct use as a food or feed or for processing to be ‘identified’ by the designation that they ‘may contain’ LMOs.
