Biosafety Protocol (Hansard, 19 January 1999)

§ Mr. Stunell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if Her Majesty's Government support the application of the Biosafety Protocol's proposed procedures for Advanced Informed Agreement to agricultural commodities and commodities designated for processing, where such commodities contain genetically modified organisms or parts thereof; and if he will oppose any attempts in the protocol negotiations to exclude such commodities from the AIA procedures. [66036]

§ Mr. Meale
The Government's view is that the Protocol should cover the transboundary movement of all living modified organisms (LMOs), including LMOs that are agricultural commodities and commodities intended for processing. The Advanced Informed Agreement procedures should apply to transboundary movements of LMOs intended for deliberate release, including commodities. The UK is still considering its position on appropriate procedures for commodities intended for processing and will press hard for adequate coverage to secure environmental safety. Commodities that consist of non-living products of LMOs should not be covered by the protocol since the scope set out in the mandate from the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity is to develop a protocol focusing specifically on the transboundary movement of living modified organisms.

§ Mr. Stunell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if Her Majesty's Government supports proposals to include provisions in the Biosafety Protocol to allow countries to take socio-economic considerations into account when reaching a decision on whether to grant advanced informed agreement to allow the proposed import of a GMO to proceed. [65963]

§ Mr. Meale
The Government consider that the basis for decision-making under the Protocol should be a scientific risk assessment, but recognise that some countries may wish to consider socio-economic aspects in reaching their decision on whether to grant advance informed agreement.

§ Mr. Stunell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions whether his Department will support proposals to include provisions for a regime for strict liability within the Biosafety Protocol. [65962]

§ Mr. Meale
The Government acknowledge the importance of the issue of liability and redress in the context of damage to biological diversity and its relevance to the Biosafety Protocol. For this reason, the UK and the European Commission last year hosted a small international workshop to explore the issues arising in relation to the Protocol. The Government consider that provisions for a regime for strict liability cannot be developed in the short time remaining to complete the negotiations. I hope, however, that it will be possible at the final meeting of the Biosafety Working Group developing the Protocol to agree how the matter might be taken forward, bearing in mind the ongoing discussions in the context of Article 14 of the Convention on Biological Diversity.