Past Activities 2014 - 2016

Compilation of didactic material for capacity building on sampling, detection and identification of living modified organisms

Discussions will be held: 13 - 27 April 2015
Discussions open and close at 1:00 a.m. GMT

As previously indicated, the COP-MOP, in its decision BS-VII/10, requested the Executive Secretary to organize, in cooperation with relevant organizations, subject to the availability of funds, capacity-building activities such as online and face-to-face training workshops on sampling, detection and identification of living modified organisms (LMOs) to assist Parties in fulfilling the requirements under Article 17 and towards achieving the relevant outcomes of the Strategic Plan.

With the view to achieving this element of the decision, and with support from the Government of Japan through the Japan Biodiversity Fund, the Secretariat is organizing a series of capacity-building activities, starting with a face-to-face workshop of the Network of Laboratories for the Detection and Identification of LMOs followed by regional and sub-regional training workshops.

Based on the input from the Network’s previous discussion on “Drafting an outline for capacity-building workshops on sampling, detection and identification of LMOs” we are pleased to share with you an updated version of the draft outline of the training material (accessible through the link on the right) that will be used to conduct the capacity-building workshops on detection and identification of LMOs. This revised draft, integrates new elements from among the key issues that were previously discussed, such as the inclusion of a section on sampling strategies and specifying topics on method validation, etc.

Participants are invited to share and upload relevant didactic resources and references that can serve as a starting point for the development of the training material that will be used to conduct the capacity-building workshops.

Drafting an outline for capacity-building workshops on sampling, detection and identification of LMOs

Discussions will be held: 15 – 29 March 2015
Discussions open and close at 1:00 a.m. GMT

In its decision BS-VII/10, the COP-MOP requested the Executive Secretary to organize, in cooperation with relevant organizations, subject to the availability of funds, capacity-building activities such as online and face-to-face training workshops on sampling, detection and identification of living modified organisms (LMOs) to assist Parties in fulfilling the requirements under Article 17 and towards achieving the relevant outcomes of the Strategic Plan.

With the view to achieving this element of the decision, and with support from the Government of Japan through the Japan Biodiversity Fund, the Secretariat is organizing a series of capacity-building activities, starting with a face-to-face workshop of the Network of Laboratories for the Detection and Identification of LMOs followed by regional and sub-regional training workshops.

The workshop of the Network will take place from 9 to 12 June 2015 in Ispra, Italy. Among its objectives, the workshop will develop and fine tune the content for the training on the detection and identification of LMOs.

To provide a basis for the face-to-face deliberations on this topic, the online Network is invited to share views on possible topics for the training workshops on the detection and identification of LMOs.

To facilitate the discussion the Secretariat has drafted an outline of the topics that may be relevant to the detection and identification of LMOs and that could be included as content during the training workshops. The content includes sections on topics such as PCR, ELISA and Strip-tests, which can include practical hands-on exercises during the training, as well as sections on QA/QC considerations in regulatory laboratories, and the reporting of results.

Participants are invited to review the background document containing the draft outline, on the right, provide suggestions on how to improve the proposed content of the training, and share case studies and examples of practical exercises that could be carried out during the training.

Drafting working definitions for “unintentional transboundary movement” and “illegal transboundary movement” of LMOs for consideration of the Compliance Committee and an analysis of the implications on detection and identification of LMOs

Discussions will be held: 16 February – 1 March 2015
Discussions open and close at 1:00 a.m. GMT

The COP-MOP, in its decision BS-VII/10, requested information on “suggested clarifications on what constitutes an unintentional transboundary movement in contrast with an illegal transboundary movement” for consideration by the Protocol’s Compliance Committee with the view to assisting Parties in fulfilling their relevant obligations under the Protocol.

It is understood that detection laboratories are not in a position to express legal opinions regarding the results of their testing processes and the terms “illegal” and “unintentional” are not often used in the laboratory context but rather the two terms are mostly used by regulation. This, as such frames the implications of these terms on detection and identification of LMOs.

In seeking to facilitate the work of the Compliance Committee we are soliciting information from the scientific community so as to establish conceptual clarity on the difference between these two terms as they are used in the regulatory context within the Protocol.

Based on the input from the previous round of discussion, we would like to invite for a consideration of the drafting of a working definition of “Unintentional Transboundary Movement” and providing conceptual clarity to the Protocol’s definition of “Illegal Transboundary Movement”.

Current definitions and uses of the terms “unintentional transboundary movement” and “illegal transboundary movement” of LMOs

Discussions will be held: 26 January – 8 February 2015
Discussions open and close at 1:00 a.m. GMT

Problems in international trade may arise due to the distinct legal status of living/genetically modified organisms (LMOs/GMOs) among countries. Various terms are used by countries to refer to the import of living/genetically modified organisms (LMOs/GMOs) that are not authorized in their territory. Not only are these terms different but they also relate to different underlying concepts such as intent (e.g. unintentional, accidental, inadvertent), legal status (e.g. illegal, unauthorized, unapproved) or quantity (e.g. adventitious, low level presence).

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety contains provisions related to “illegal transboundary movements” (Article 25) and “unintentional transboundary movements” (Article 17). While the Protocol defines the former as “transboundary movements of living modified organisms carried out in contravention of domestic measures of a Party to implement this Protocol”, it does not provide a definition for the latter. Having the capacity to detect and address illegal and unintentional transboundary movements of LMOs is a key element for the effective implementation of the Protocol.

Nevertheless, at its last meeting, the Compliance Committee of the Cartagena Protocol recognized that Parties are still behind in their obligations to make information available with respect to illegal and unintentional transboundary movements and that “different approaches in understanding and addressing illegal and unintentional transboundary movements” may account, at least in part, for the inconsistencies identified between the information that Parties had provided through their national report, on the one hand, and the Biosafety Clearing-House, on the other hand. As a result, the Compliance Committee recommended that the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (COP-MOP) could provide guidance on what constitutes unintentional transboundary movements in contrast with illegal transboundary movements and what follow-up action is required in each circumstance.

In response to this recommendation, the COP-MOP invited Parties and other Governments to submit views on what constitutes unintentional transboundary movements in contrast with illegal transboundary movements and what type of information should be exchanged through the Biosafety Clearing-House, and requested the Executive Secretary to synthesize the information submitted for consideration by the Compliance Committee. In an effort to work towards the above, participants are invited to discuss, from the perspective of someone involved in LMO detection and identification, how the imports of LMOs that have not been authorized in your country are dealt with, particularly with regard to which terms are used to refer to these imports and what the implications are, if any, of using such terminology. For example:

• Are the terms “illegal” and “unintentional” used in the context of detection and identification of LMOs being brought into your country? Is there a distinction between these terms?
• Are there other terms that refer to similar concepts and which are used in your laboratory or national regulations? In what context are these terms used and is there a distinction between these terms and those used in the Protocol?
• What does the definition of illegal transboundary movement (“transboundary movements of living modified organisms carried out in contravention of domestic measures of a Party to implement this Protocol”) mean in practice?
• What practical consequences can the use of different terms based on intent, legal status or quantity have on the detection and identification of LMOs?