Not yet time to rejoice over Cartagena accord

THE news that the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety will enter into force by September 11, 2003 is a historic development that confirms the commitment by world leaders to a sustainable use of biotechnology for the benefit of mankind.
The announcement by the Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Mr Hamdallah Zedan, that the 50th instrument of ratification of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety had been deposited in New York by the Republic of Palau thus paving the way for the entry of the protocol into force is exciting and historic.
This development is the culmination of painstaking international negotiations on how to regulate international trade in Living Modified Organisms.
At the core of this negotiations has been the desire by world leaders and all stakeholders to develop an international legal instrument that would allow the international community to harness the benefits of modern biotechnology in a safe and environmentally sustainable manner.
This development comes at a time when the international community is still divided on the benefits and the dangers that modern biotechnology particularly genetic engineering could have on human health and the environment.
And no dispute in the world signifies this global polarity than the dispute between Europe and the United States over trade in GMOs . Here are two of the world’s most scientifically and technologically advanced continents, sharply divided on safety of GM foods and their potential long term impact on environment . Understanding the issues behind the EU and US GMO trade dispute is key to understanding the basic tenets of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
The rest of the developing countries, home to the bulk of the earth’s biodiversity tend to oscillate between support for EU or the US in this GMO stand off. It is against this background that the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is being seen as offering a middle ground for countries to trade in GMOs or Living Modified Organisms as they are called in the protocol.
But even as the international community awaits the entry of the Protocol into force this September, the challenge still remains the lack of capacity among developing countries to participate in the biotech revolution .
This is critical because two of the key provisions of the Protocol – Advanced Informed Agreements and the use of the Biosafety Clearing House require that countries should have national biosafety legislation and a capacity for risk assessment to be able to participate in the international trade on GMOs. This capacity is currently lacking in many developing countries particularly in Africa.
This is why it is very important that before we pop up the champagne for the Protocol’s entry into force this September, the international community, particularly the developed countries, should avail resources to enable African countries improve their capacity to engage in biotechnology research, development and trade. Only then will the protocol have any meaningful effect on the Third World .