(24 September 2010) After six years of intense negotiations, parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety finally agreed on a new international treaty in Nagoya, Japan. According to the treaty, countries that import genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and plant them will now have a legal claim to redress in case of damage to their biodiversity.
The new treaty on liability and redress – named after Kuala Lumpur and Nagoya, the two cities where the final rounds of negotiation were held – is an important addition to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which was passed in the year 2000. For the first time the treaty establishes legally binding international rules for transboundary movements of living genetically modified organisms.