Sept 11 Consultation / SIGN ON to Support Biosafety Protocol

Date: Thu, 05 Sep 2002 09:50:41 -0400
To: sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca
From: Aaron Koleszar <aaronk@isn.net>
Precedence: bulk
Return-Path: <sust-mar-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>

next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects


See below to SIGN ON to Support Biosafety Protocol Ratification
(pour un version français envoyez un message par courriel à <aaronk@isn.net>)

Greetings,

Just wondering if anyone in Nova Scotia is planning to, or interested in, 
attending the consultation meeting regarding the ratification of the 
Biosafety Protocol.

It will take place next Wednesday, September 11 in Halifax.

If you, or your organization, plan to participate in the September 
consultations (via the web or in person), please email me ASAP (preferably 
with you phone #).

We can provide you with more information and with an analysis document that 
is currently being prepared and will be available in early September.

Aaron

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(pour un version français envoyez un message par courriel à <aaronk@isn.net>)

URGENT ACTION: Sign On to Support Biosafety Protocol Ratification

Dear Fellow Activists,

Please consider signing onto the following "Statement to the Canadian 
Government...” in order to send a strong message that Canadians want our 
government to ratify the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Biosafety Protocol).

To sign-on, just send an email to <aaronk@isn.net>,
* by September 25, 2002;
* with your e-mail address;
* with the name of your organization, and/or name and credentials of experts;
* with "Subject" line that reads "Endorse Biosafety Statement".

Since not everyone has the time or ability to travel to the consultations 
that our government is holding on this topic, some civil society 
organizations have initiated this sign-on statement, to be endorsed by 
organizations and experts with relevant credentials.

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Biosafety Protocol) is an 
international agreement designed to protect biological diversity, including 
human health, from the impacts of trade in living (genetically) modified 
organisms (LMOs). More background information can be found below.

As you may have already known, the Government of Canada will be holding 
consultations this September regarding the ratification of the Biosafety 
Protocol. The stated OBJECTIVES of the consultations are to solicit views on
· (morning) Whether Canada should ratify the Protocol, and if so, when; and
· (afternoon) The content of draft regulations that would be needed if 
Canada were to ratify the Protocol.

If you, or your organization, plan to participate in the September 
consultations (via the web or in person), please let us know. We can 
provide you with more information and with an analysis document that is 
currently being prepared and will be available in early September.

The face-to-face consultation meetings are scheduled as follows:

September 11 (Wed)      Halifax
September 12 (Thurs)    Montreal
September 18 (Wed)      Winnipeg
September 19 (Thurs)    Saskatoon
September 24 (Tues)     Calgary
September 25 (Wed)      Vancouver
September 30 (Mon)      Ottawa

]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

A Statement to the Canadian Government from Canadian Civil Society 
Organizations
on the Matter of Canada’s Ratification of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

September 2002

Recommendations:

Preamble:

In order to achieve the objective of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety 
(Biosafety Protocol) as outlined in Article 1, i.e., “to contribute to 
ensuring 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 effects on the conservation and 
sustainable use of biological diversity, taking also into account risks to 
human health, and specifically focusing on transboundary movements”; and

In order to implement the precautionary approach contained in Principle 15 
of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development as reaffirmed in the 
preamble of the Biosafety Protocol; and

In order to meet Canada’s long-term interests in the protection of the 
environment and public health, biodiversity conservation, as well as its 
agricultural markets, we, the undersigned, strongly urge the Government of 
Canada to:

1.      Cease any further delay and immediately ratify the Cartagena 
Protocol on Biosafety;
2.      Implement a stringent, precautionary regulatory system in Canada 
governing the import and export of all relevant categories of LMOs; and
3.      Adopt a different, precautionary approach to the ongoing 
deliberations to operationalize the Biosafety Protocol by calling for 
implementation measures that are rigorous and restrictive.

Background:

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is an international agreement designed 
to protect biological diversity, including human health, from the impacts 
of trade in living (genetically) modified organisms (LMOs). From 1996-2000, 
the Protocol was negotiated between over 130 countries, including Canada, 
under the auspices of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

The Biosafety Protocol was adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the 
Convention on January 29, 2000. As of August 8, 2002, it has been signed by 
111 countries and ratified by 23. Additionally, the European Union has 
initiated a process for ratification by member countries. To enter into 
force, the Protocol must be ratified by 50 countries that are signatory to 
the Convention on Biological Diversity. Canada has signed but refused to 
ratify the Biosafety Protocol despite repeated requests by civil society 
organizations to do so.

Many Canadian civil society organizations participated in the development 
of the Biosafety Protocol as members of the Canadian Biosafety Protocol 
Advisory Group (BPAG), as delegates at Biosafety Protocol meetings, as well 
as individually. Through a series of events including  demonstrations in 
the streets of Montreal during the final negotiating sessions of the 
Protocol in January 2000, Canadian civil society clearly voiced our demand 
for a legally binding agreement that would strongly protect the world’s 
people and biodiversity from the risks, including social and economic 
impacts, that can be caused by the introduction of genetically modified 
organisms to the environment.

The final text of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is not everything 
that Canadian civil society organizations had hoped for. Still, it does 
represent an important step towards the effective regulation of 
international trade in genetically modified organisms. The Protocol 
requires that States make decisions on whether or not to import LMOs, based 
on assessments of the potential impacts of those LMOs, prior to their 
import. In cases where there is a lack of scientific consensus, or 
insufficient scientific knowledge to properly ascertain the risks 
associated with a LMO, States are able to decline those imports on the 
basis of the precautionary principle. The Protocol provides for information 
exchange on the assessment of risks of LMOs through the medium of the 
Biosafety Clearing House and for capacity building for LMO risk assessment 
in developing countries. It provides the framework for requiring the 
labelling of LMOs for export (including the eventual labelling of all LMO 
commodities) and the Protocol calls for public participation in decision 
making on LMO imports. The Protocol also creates the framework for further 
negotiations on the establishment of rules and procedures in the field of 
liability and redress for damages resulting from transboundary movements of 
LMOs.

Canadian civil society organizations were frequently embarrassed by the 
role the Canadian government played during the negotiation of the Biosafety 
Protocol. Many of the more environmentally and socially progressive 
positions brought forward in negotiations were rejected by Canada’s 
official representatives. As lead spokesperson for the six-member Miami 
Group of countries, Canada was seen to place its perceived economic 
interests (a perception challenged by many) in the unregulated trade of 
genetically modified agricultural products ahead of the protection of 
global biodiversity and public health.  These actions caused significant 
harm to Canada’s reputation on the world stage and within the activities of 
the United Nations Environment Program as a whole.

Civil society organizations hoped that Canada’s decision to sign onto the 
Protocol in April of 2001 was an indication that the government of Canada 
had finally decided to take seriously the concern that exists around the 
world regarding genetically modified organisms.  The emerging global 
reality is that both domestic and export markets expect the segregation and 
labelling of genetically modified crops, and that modified crops and seeds 
will have to clearly demonstrate their safety before they are accepted. To 
meet these public expectations and to provide meaningful health and 
environmental safety requires that Canada’s domestic regulatory system for 
genetically modified organisms be overhauled, fully embracing a 
precautionary approach to the risks associated with genetic engineering (as 
outlined in the February 2001 report of the Royal Society of Canada’s 
Expert Panel on the Future of Biotechnogy). Canada must introduce 
regulations governing the export of LMOs requiring segregation and 
labelling as well as mechanisms to ensure that liability for harm caused by 
LMOs lies with the commercial developers and exporters of these products. 
All of these aims can be achieved through the regulatory reforms that we 
believe need to be implemented in the process of ratifying the Cartagena 
Protocol on Biosafety.

As civil society organisations, we urge Canada’s immediate ratification of 
the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. We call on the government of Canada to 
take seriously the objectives of this Protocol by fully implementing a 
precautionary regulatory system governing the import and export of all 
relevant categories of LMOs. We also urge the government to adopt a 
different, precautionary approach to the ongoing deliberations to 
operationalize the Biosafety Protocol by calling for implementation 
measures that are rigorous and restrictive in order to maximize protection 
of health and environmental safety. Canada’s long-term interests in the 
protection of the environment and public health, biodiversity conservation, 
as well as its agricultural markets, now lie with meeting the objectives of 
the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.


In solidarity, we are:

Canadian Environmental Law Association
Canadian Health Coalition
Council of Canadians
The Eco-Council of Peterborough
Greenpeace Canada
Brewster Kneen, Publisher, The Ram's Horn

++ Organizations and experts with relevant credentials are invited to 
endorse this "Statement to the Canadian Government..." by sending an email 
to <aaronk@isn.net>
* by September 25, 2002;
* with your e-mail address;
* with the name of your organization, and/or name and credentials of experts;
* with "Subject" line that reads "Endorse Biosafety Statement".

=================================================================

(pour un version français complet, envoyez un message par courriel à 
<aaronk@isn.net>)

URGENCE D’AGIR: Signez pour témoigner de votre appui de la ratification du 
Protocole pour la biosécurité

Chers collègues activistes,

Nous vous prions de signer cette «Déclaration au gouvernement du Canada» 
dans le but de transmettre un message clair que les Canadiens veulent voir 
leur gouvernement ratifier le Protocole de Cartagena sur la prévention des 
risques biotechnologiques (Protocole pour la biosécurité).

Pour ajouter votre signature, envoyez tout simplement un message par 
courriel à <aaronk@isn.net>:
• d’ici le 25 septembre 2002;
• en indiquant votre adresse de courriel;
• ainsi que le nom de votre organisation et/ou le nom et les compétences de 
vos experts;
• en indiquant dans l’Objet le titre «Appui de l’exposé sur la biosécurité».

*********************************************************************
Aaron Koleszar
Biotechnology Caucus of the Canadian Environmental Network
<aaronk@isn.net>



-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
SUST-MAR TIP: tell your friends how to join sust-mar!

To join, just send "subscribe sust-mar" to majordomo@chebucto.ca

CBC enviro news-briefs follow:
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-



AIR CANADA EXPECTED TO REDUCE ATLANTIC STOPS
Air Canada is dropping scheduled service to several Atlantic centres.
Starting in January, the airline's 'Jazz' flights will pull out of Yarmouth,
after losing half a million dollars a year.
FULL STORY
http://novascotia.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=ns_aircan020905

© Canadian Broadcasting Corporation


next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects