WHERE IS THE USA IN THIS PICTURE?????

Int'l rules adopted on redress for damage caused by GM crops
(Mainichi Japan) October 16, 2010

NAGOYA (Kyodo) -- Parties gathered at biological diversity talks in the central Japan city of Nagoya adopted on Friday a supplement to the biosafety protocol that sets redress rules for damage caused to ecosystems by the movements of genetically modified crops.

The move came on the final day of the fifth meeting on the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which began Monday as the official start of three weeks of international talks on the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The "Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress" holds business operators liable for bringing in genetically modified living organisms across national borders in case such organisms cause damage to ecosystems and human health. It also sets new rules for allowing countries to call on the operators to take restorative measures or pay for the costs of such measures.

Under the rules, countries will be able to call on the operators -- including owners, developers, producers, exporters, importers and transporters -- to take preventive measures if there is a good chance that the relevant organisms may cause damage.

For possible damage that may be caused through the movements of genetically modified living organisms, countries can legally mandate financial measures, such as insurance and funds, while being in step with other international laws.

Talks on compensatory measures for damage caused to ecosystems by genetically modified living organisms began in earnest in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur in 2004, the reason the new supplementary protocol has included the capital's name in it.

The protocol will be opened for signatures at the U.N. headquarters from next March. The accord takes effect 90 days after 40 countries and regions ratify it.

Japan hopes to ratify it in autumn next year or later after obtaining parliamentary approval, government officials said. No law needs to be revised domestically to implement the protocol, according to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry.

The 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, or COP10, will be held in the city from Oct. 18 to 29 to set new goals for the preservation of biodiversity. It will also seek to forge an accord on how to share benefits from the use of genetic resources, but developing and industrialized countries are divided over the matter.

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