Damage
• In the presentation on these issues, it was suggested to
confine assessment to biodiversity only. However, there was also
an emphatic suggestion to include socio-economic aspects in the
damage assessment as one of the key criteria.
Standard of Liability
• There was an elaborate discussion on the potential or actual
damage scenarios and application of international rules and procedures
on liability and redress to the damage scenarios.
•
The elements of rules and procedures on liability and redress, including
definition and nature of damage, valuation of damage to biodiversity
and to human health and plant, threshold of damage, roles of Parties
of import and export and standard of liability need to be considered.
•
There was detailed discussion on whether a strong national legislation
is sufficient or an effective international regime may also be required
to support the national initiatives.
Standards of liability
• There was an opinion expressed that fault based
liability may be opted as standard for the liability regime. However,
this position should be backed with good case studies having short
term and long-term experiences in perceptive but meanwhile India
may opt for case by case approach for approval.
•
Similarly, more studies are needed to draw distinction between strict
and absolute liability along with the instances enumerated.
•
Agronomic; biodiversity; health and food safety as standards for
liability assessment.
Issues in Handling and Transboundary Movement
The
Protocol aims to ‘ensure an adequate level of protection in
the field of the safe transfer, handling and use of living modified
organisms resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse
effect on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity,
taking into account the risks to human health, and specifically
focusing on transboundary movements’.
Points
emerged during discussion
Issues for CoP- MoP- 3 for LMO- FFPs
•
Threshold for adventitious or intended presence of LMOs to trigger
identification requirement
•
Threshold for unapproved LMOs
•
Harmonization of sampling and detection technique
Type of Document Accompanying LMOs
•
Stand alone
• Commercial in-voice
• Existing documentation
Stand-alone
Document
• Column 14, Type of intended use:
- Commercial:
Need to specify whether it is for consumption/ industrial purpose
((LMOs – FFP)
- Research :
Need to specify whether it is for lab work or glasshouse/ limited
field trials
Compliance
Mechanism: Issues and Options
Section VI of the procedures and mechanisms on compliance provide
for measures to promote compliance and address cases of non-compliance.
The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties
to the Protocol identified and adopted various measures that the
Compliance Committee, which was established by the same decision,
may take with a view to promoting compliance and in response to
cases of non-compliance. In taking such measures the Committee is
required to take into account the capacity of the Party concerned
and such other factors as the cause, type, degree and frequency
of non-compliance (section VI, paragraph 1).
Points
emerged during discussion
•
Biosafety rules are at divergent level of implementation. Therefore
the compliance mechanism in different country would be so divergent
that uniform compliance regime may not work.
•
Issues of non-Parties at compliance mechanism.
•
Need to linkage and conflict in international rule and regulation
among different MEAs.
•
Establish Technical Benchmarks at national level and CPB compliance
be judged against them.
•
Time frame should given for the Party to implement the Protocol.
•
Compliance mechanism through multilateral process with the participation
of NGO and stakeholders.
•
Three approaches for non-compliance mechanisms in different MEAs:
rigid, moderate and soft approach. Accordingly a strategy for CPB
be worked out.
•
Multilateral effort for capacity building.
Other Points
• EPAPQ 
Order
Food
Safety Bill
Biotech Develop Strategy (DBT)
Harmonisation of domestic legislations.
•
Codex and WTO: conflicts:- Mandatory & Voluntary Labelling
•
Do we have GM trade policy and focus preferences we require notified
labs for international standards.
•
Multiple LMO events used in some crops.
18.2 (a): BCH; “May contain”
-
Terminology
- Risk Assessment Methods
- Traceability
- Documentation and standards
•
System of continuous dialogue and research
