The international expert meeting was held on 19-20 May 2008 in Cologne, Germany. The aim of the meeting was to provide a forum in which interested Governments (including representatives of interested Parties to the Aarhus Convention or the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety), intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, business and academia could meet to exchange information on good practices on access to information, public participation and access to justice with respect to GMOs, with a particular focus on identifying and addressing needs and challenges, in particular in countries in transition, especially those from Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia and in developing countries. The Cartagena Protocol and the Aarhus Convention, including the GMO amendment (ECE/MP.PP/2005/2/Add.2, annex) and the Lucca Guidelines on GMOs (MP.PP/2003/3), were key background documents for the meeting.
