Becoming a Party
Reasons for becoming a Party
The conclusion of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety has been hailed as a significant step forward in providing an international regulatory framework that reconciles the respective needs of trade and environmental protection in light of a rapidly growing biotechnology industry. The conclusion of the Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress is equally significant because it puts in place the missing piece from the Protocol on Biosafety.
The introduction of rules on liability and redress for damage caused by living modified organisms may contribute to creating an enabling environment for the environmentally sound application of modern biotechnology. Liability and redress mechanisms enable States to maintain a balance between the importance of benefitting from developments in biotechnology and the need for minimizing the possible risks to biodiversity and to human health. Becoming a Party to the Supplementary Protocol enables countries to introduce domestic liability and redress rules in accordance with a multilateral framework and would demonstrate commitment to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity..
Becoming a Party to the Supplementary Protocol will create an incentive for those in control of living modified organisms to seek to ensure that the transfer, handling, use and release of these organisms is undertaken in a manner that prevents or reduces the risks to biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health.
States could use the opportunity of becoming a Party to the Supplementary Protocol to forge further cooperation in strengthening capacities for the implementation of the Supplementary Protocol and for the safe development and use of modern biotechnology.
The Supplementary Protocol introduces an administrative approach to liability and redress by enabling a competent authority to determine response measures to be taken and identify the operator responsible for taking such measures in the event of damage or sufficient likelihood of damage. Parties may also develop additional civil liability rules and procedures. The administrative approach and optional civil liability component of the Supplementary Protocol allow Parties to implement the instrument at the national level with a high degree of flexibility and in accordance with national needs and priorities.