Why do we need an international biosafety agreement?
While advances in biotechnology have great potential for significant improvements in human well-being, they must be developed and used with adequate safety measures for the environment and human health. The objectives of the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity are “the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.” When developing the Convention, the Conference of the Parties recognized that biotechnology can make a contribution towards achieving the objectives of the Convention, if developed and used with adequate safety measures for the environment and human health. The Conference of the Parties agreed to consider the need to develop appropriate procedures to address the safe transfer, handling and use of any LMO resulting from biotechnology that may have adverse effect on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity (Article 19.3 o
