Lebanon to become 165th Party to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

Montreal, 13 February 2013 – Lebanon deposited its instrument of accession to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity on 6 February 2013 and will become the 165th Party to the Protocol on 7 May 2013.

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is a legally binding agreement governing the transboundary movement of living modified organisms (LMOs), also commonly known as genetically modified organisms, resulting from modern biotechnology. It seeks to protect biodiversity from potential adverse effects by LMOs, taking also into account risks to human health, by providing an international regulatory framework for ensuring their safe transfer, handling and use. The Protocol was adopted on 29 January 2000 and entered into force on 11 September 2003.

Welcoming the news, Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, said: “Lebanon’s accession to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety will enable the country to fully participate in decision-making regarding the future of the Protocol during the seventh meeting of the Parties to the Protocol in October 2014 in the Republic of Korea. I call upon Parties to the Convention that have not yet done so to ratify or accede to the Protocol as soon as possible.”

Lebanon, with financial support from the Global Environment Facility and with technical assistance from the United Nations Environment Programme, has developed a draft national biosafety framework and is in the process of building its capacity to comply with the Protocol’s provisions.

The list of all Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is available on the Protocol website at: http://bch.cbd.int/protocol/parties/.