The Third Meeting of the Parties (MOP-3) to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is now taking place in Curitiba, Brazil. Slated for the 13th to the 17th of March, the meeting aims to hold talks on identifying, labeling, handling, and the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO); and discussions on risk assessment, safety handling, communication, and cooperation with other organizations, conventions, or programs.
Fatimah Raya Nasron, president of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), urged participants not to leave Curitiba without having resolved outstanding issues left over from MOP-2. “This is important if we are to enhance the effective implementation of the Protocol which we spent so many years and so much energy crafting,” she said in her opening statement, “Such expeditious proceeding will reinforce the significance of the Cartagena Protocol as an international agreement that aims at establishing and implementing a harmonized framework of rules and procedures to govern the movement of living modified organisms across borders.”
The MOP-3 is a preparatory meeting for the 8th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-8), which begins on the 20th of March, also in Curitiba. COP-8 will be attended by official delegations of the 188 members of the CBD.
