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Notice of January 8, 1999 meeting on Protocol on Biosafety

Text of Federal Register Notice published December 16, 1998
(Volume 63, Number 241, Page 69354-69355)

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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 2947]


Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs 
(OES), Department of State; Notice of public meeting regarding 
Government Activities on the negotiation of a Protocol on Biosafety.

SUMMARY: This public meeting will provide an overview of the major 
issues to be addressed in the final negotiating session of the Protocol 
on Biosafety under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). 
Negotiations on a protocol to govern the transboundary movement of 
living modified organisms (LMOs) are scheduled to be completed February 
14-19, 1999 in Cartagena, Colombia. A special session of the CBD 
Conference of the Parties (COP) is scheduled February 22-23 to approve 
the agreement as a protocol to the CBD. The United States is a world 
leader in biotechnology research and production. The United States is 
working to ensure that a biosafety regime established by the protocol 
is environmentally responsible, scientifically based and analytically 
sound, and will not unduly affect research and trade in beneficial 
biotechnology products. This meeting will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 
12:00 noon on January 8, 1999 in room 1107, Department of State, 2201 C 
Street Northwest., Washington, D.C. Attendees should use the entrance 
at C Street and should provide Ms. Jean Bell (202-647-2418) with their 
date of birth and social security number by January 6. Attendees should 
bring picture identification. Participants who wish to make statements 
and those who cannot attend are invited to fax comments John Tuminaro 
at 202 736-7351.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, contact Mr. 
John Tuminaro, United States Department of State, OES/ETC, Room 4333, 
2201 C Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20520. Phone 202-647-2418; fax 
202-736-7351. Further information regarding the negotiations, including 
the draft protocol text, can be obtained from the Convention on 
Biological Diversity website www.biodiv.org.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United States, through an interagency 
working group chaired by the Department of State, is engaged in 
negotiations under the auspices of the Convention on Biological 
Diversity (CBD) that will result in an international protocol governing 
the transboundary movement of living modified organisms, and 
potentially products derived from them, that are developed using modern 
biotechnology. Negotiations on the protocol are scheduled to conclude 
with a sixth meeting in Cartagena, Colombia February 14-19, 1999. A 
special session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the CBD will 
be held in Cartagena February 22-23 to approve the agreement as a 
protocol to the CBD.
   Although not a party to the CBD, the United States has been 
permitted to participate in the protocol negotiations under the mandate 
of the Ad Hoc Working Group set up by the CBD COP to undertake the 
negotiations of the biosafety agreement. Veit Koester of Denmark chairs 
the Ad Hoc Working Group.
   At the core of protocol will be an advance informed agreement 
procedure (AIA). The AIA would include notice and consent requirements 
that must be fulfilled before genetically modified organisms can be 
exported from one country to another. Our experience has demonstrated 
to us that the risks to biological diversity presented by genetically 
modified organisms are limited and are not significantly different in 
kind from those posed by traditionally developed organisms. With this 
approach, the U.S. has worked consistently bilaterally and 
multilaterally to ensure that the regime established by the protocol 
will be environmentally responsible, scientifically based and 
analytically sound, and will not unduly affect research and trade in 
beneficial biotechnology products. Although the original mandate of the 
negotiations was limited to the transboundary movement of living 
modified organisms, a number of governments have expressed a desire to 
expand this scope to include trade in products derived from living 
modified organisms.
   The Ad Hoc Working Group has met five times. The first two meetings 
involved broad descriptions of positions. The third meeting worked to 
produce a consolidated text of all options proposed on every issue. The 
fourth and fifth meetings resulted in a streamlined text and the 
reduction of options on the major issues. The sixth and final meeting 
is expected to result in a completed protocol. The Department of State 
has discussed the Biosafety Protocol with interested members of the 
public prior to and throughout the negotiation process.

   Dated: December 4, 1998.
Stephanie J. Caswell, Acting
Office of Ecology and Terrestrial Conservation
Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs

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[end of document]

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