[enviro-vlc] THOUSANDS GATHER FOR MEETING ON UN-BACKED TREATY ON BIOSAFETY

[Vern Weitzel]

Subject: THOUSANDS GATHER FOR MEETING ON UN-BACKED TREATY ON BIOSAFETY
Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 20:01:23 -0400
From: <UNNews at un.org>
Reply-To: <UNNews at un.org>
Organization: United Nations
To: <news4 at secint00.un.org>

THOUSANDS GATHER FOR MEETING ON UN-BACKED TREATY ON BIOSAFETY
New York, May 12 2008  8:00PM
More than 3000 participants from 147 countries have assembled in Bonn, the 
former German capital, for the start of a week-long <" 
http://www.cbd.int/mop4/">meeting on how to improve their commitments to 
ensuring the safe use of modern biotechnology as outlined under a United 
Nations-backed treaty.

The fourth meeting of the parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, itself 
a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity, began today 
in Bonn, according to a 
<"http://www.cbd.int/doc/press/2008/pr-2008-05-12-mop-en.pdf">news release 
issued by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

The agency said that one of the priorities of this week’s meeting will be to try 
to reach agreement on international rules on liability and redress for potential 
damages caused by the movements of living modified organisms (LMOs), often known 
as genetically modified organisms.

Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary to the Convention, urged the delegates at 
the meeting to “seize the moment” and reach agreement.

“You are mandated to fulfil the requirement, set out in Article 27 in 2000, when 
the Protocol was signed,” he said. “In doing this, you will ensure the effective 
implementation of the Protocol.”

Participants at the conference in Bonn will also discuss other issues, including 
finding ways to finance the continued work of the Protocol and assessing the 
socio-economic impact that LMOs have on biodiversity.
  2008-05-12 00:00:00.000

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