GM trade treaty takes effect

By Richard Black
BBC Science

An international treaty on the trade in genetically-modified organisms came into force on Thursday.

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety gives countries the right to bar imports of live GM organisms (GMOs) - plants, animals, bacteria or viruses - which they believe carry environmental or health risks.

However, the biggest users of GM agriculture have yet to ratify it.

The more than 50 countries which have ratified the protocol now have the right to bar imports of live GMOs from other nations which have also ratified.

CARTAGENA PROTOCOL Only global treaty on handling and movement of GMOs Establishes information "clearing-house" in Montreal, Canada Adopted January 2000 by members of UN Convention on Biological Diversity Entry into force triggered by ratification by 50th state in June

If they are not sure what the risks are, they can ask the exporting country to provide a risk assessment; and there is also to be a central online database of information on risks.

Running through the protocol's wording is an acknowledgement that GMOs may constitute a danger to health and the environment; but that's not a view which everyone agrees with.

The US Government in particular believes GMOs pose no risk at all. It hasn't even signed the protocol, let alone ratified it.

If American companies find poorer nations blocking exports on safety grounds, the protocol may provide little protection; the rules and procedures of the World Trade Organisation may in the end prove more powerful.

Nevertheless, the protocol has been hailed by environmental groups who see it as a way of providing knowledge and safeguards for countries which currently have far fewer resources than biotech multinationals.