Hyderabad to host bio-diversity conference from Monday

Some 2,000 delegates from more than 150 countries will gather on Monday in Hyderabad for the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP MOP 6).

The meeting will discuss and adopt measures to ensure safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology. These will include decisions to advance the implementation of the 10-year Strategic Plan for the Protocol adopted in 2010 and the entry into force of the Nagoya – Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Protocol.

Jamaica deposited its instrument of ratification to the Protocol on September 25 2012, becoming the 164th Party to the Protocol on December 24 , 2012.

The Cartagena Protocol Biosafety was adopted on January 29, 2000, and entered into force on September 11, 2003. The Nagoya–Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress was adopted at the last meeting of the Parties in Nagoya, Japan, in 2010. It received 51 signatures and two ratifications by March 6, 2012, when it was closed for signature. 

The Supplementary Protocol will enter into force 90 days after 40 parties have ratified it.
At the five-day meeting, starting on October 1, delegates will discuss issues relating to capacity-building, biosafety clearing-house, financial mechanism and resources for the protocol’s implementation, risk assessment and risk management, socio-economic considerations of LMOs, compliance with the protocol’s provisions as well as assessment and review of its effectiveness.

Decisions taken on the issues are expected to make biological diversity adequately protected from any adverse effects of LMOs.

In her message, Jayanthi Natarajan, minister of environment and forest, urged delegates to join hands and engage in a meaningful dialogue aimed at achieving path-breaking resolutions for preserving our common future.