“It’s a decision that gives legal clarity to the international trade in agricultural produce, as well as being in line with EU legislation”, commented the European Commissioner for the Environment, Stavros Dimas, in welcoming the agreement reached on the Cartagena Protocol on Biosecurity (Mop3). The third meeting between the 132 contracting parties recently ended in the Brazilian city of Curitiba. Since the Protocol is the only international Treaty that regulates the cross-border trade of genetically modified organisms (GMO) – and since the other signatories include the USA and Russia, as well as the EU – the decision reached in Curitiba is fundamental, since it reinforces the minimum requisites necessary for the identification and exportation of GMOs. In particular – also thanks to the decisive role played by Brazil and the EU that permitted wide consensus to be reached – the contracting parties pledged to reinforce biosecurity in the developing countries; analyse in greater detail the risks linked to GMO; and exchange information within the “Telematic Compensation Chamber”.
