ABSTRACT
The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is one of the most significant multilateral environmental agreements to have been adopted. This chapter provides a binding framework for assessing and managing the risks to the environment and human health from the movement of living modified organisms (LMOs) between countries. The meeting of the Parties (MOP) will be the only global forum that has a legally binding framework for dealing with the safe transfer and use of LMOs. The MOP must also establish the detailed requirements for identification of LMO-food, feed and processing shipments within two years. The public has the right to demand that the debate in the MOP, and the final outcome, adequately meet its wishes. Although unrelated scientifically to biotechnology, the growing public concern about food in the aftermath of the bovine spongiform encephalitis crisis spilled over to the use of genetically modified crops for food.
