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Online discussions on socio-economic considerations

These online discussions were held in September 2019. The forum is now closed.

Background

This online forum on socio-economic considerations was established pursuant to decision CP-9/14.

In this decision, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties took note of the voluntary “Guidance on the Assessment of Socio-Economic Considerations in the context of Article 26 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety” (as contained in CBD/CP/MOP/9/10, Annex).

The meeting of the Parties invited Parties and observers to use and submit preliminary experiences using the voluntary Guidance, as well as examples of methodologies and applications of socio-economic considerations in the light of the elements of the voluntary Guidance, preferably in the form of case studies.

The meeting of the Parties requested the Executive Secretary to compile the information submitted and to organize moderated online discussions on the online forum “to comment on and add views to review the compilation of submissions” (decision CP-9/14).

Submissions received

Sixteen submissions were received in response to Notification 2019-031 (14 from Parties, one from another Government and one from an organization). The submissions can be consulted here.

Time and date of the discussions

The discussions on the online forum on socio-economic considerations will be held from 9 September 2019, at 0:00 a.m. GMT to 20 September 2019 at 23:59 p.m. GMT.

Rapporteurs

The discussions will be moderated by two rapporteurs, who have been selected in consultation with the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol. The rapporteurs are: Mr. Ben Durham (South Africa) and Mr. Casper Linnestad (Norway).

Outcomes

A report on the online discussions will be prepared by the rapporteurs.

The outcomes of the discussions will be made available for review by the meeting of the Ad-Hoc Technical Expert Group on Socio-Economic Considerations (AHTEG), to be held from 10 to 13 December 2019 in Vienna, Austria. Together with the submissions made, the AHTEG will review the outcomes of the discussions and use this information to supplement the voluntary Guidance by indicating for which stage in the assessment process, as outlined in the voluntary Guidance, the information might be relevant.

The outcomes of the process will be considered by the meeting of the Parties, at its tenth meeting.

Organization of the discussions

The submissions received contained an array of information, including descriptions of domestic legal and institutional frameworks and the extent to which they allow for the consideration of socio-economic aspects in decision-taking on living modified organisms, descriptions of actual applications of socio-economic considerations in decision-taking and citations of literature.

The online discussions are organized into three forums to allow participants to comment and add views on the issues raised in the submissions.

  • A focused discussion on experiences in considering socio-economic aspects in decision taking on LMOs is organized around the submissions providing specific decisions or case studies in which socio-economic aspects were considered (Forum 1).
  • A discussion on literature and reports cited in the submissions is intended to facilitate a review of supportive documentation (Forum 2).
  • A general discussion will be hosted to provide an opportunity for participants to comment and add views on all submissions, including other general aspects raised in the submissions considered under Forum 1 and Forum 2 (Forum 3).

Forum 1: Focused discussion on experiences in considering socio-economic aspects in decision taking on LMOs (discussion to take place during week 1 of the forum)

Several submissions contained case studies or descriptions of decisions on living modified organisms in which socio-economic aspects had been considered. These descriptions were provided in the submissions from: China, France, Nigeria and Norway.

Furthermore, in the submission from New Zealand, reference was made to a large number of decisions in which socio-economic considerations had been taken into consideration. From among these decisions, New Zealand has kindly identified a selection for further consideration by the online forum.

The submissions by China, France, Nigeria and Norway, as well as the selected decisions to which reference was made in the submission from New Zealand, are made available for ease of reference in the links below.

  1. China
  2. France FR France EN
  3. Nigeria
  4. Norway
  5. New Zealand

Participants are invited to comment and add views to review the information submitted.

This Forum is closed.
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Forum 2: Focused discussion on literature and reports cited (discussion to take place during week 2 of the forum)

A number of submissions contained references to literature or reports concerning applications of socio-economic considerations, some of which address methodological aspects. The submissions from the European Union, Mexico, the United States of America and Third World Network contained such references.

For ease of reference, links to the materials are provided below:

European Union:

  1. Report to the European Parliament and the Council on socio-economic implications of GMO cultivation on the basis of Member States contributions (COM 2011)
  2. Framework for the socio-economic analysis of the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops (ESEB 2015)
  3. Framework for assessing the socioeconomic impacts of Bt maize cultivation (ESEB 2016)

Mexico

The Mexican submission indicates that the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC) has published the following studies, which, although not directly related to living modified organisms, are aligned with art. 26 of the Cartagena Protocol:

  1. Metodología de valoración económica del dalo al medio ambiente por contingencias del sector minero (2016)
  2. Costos y beneficios de la agricultura de conservación y la ganadería planificada en el marco de las medidas de las Contribuciones Nacionalmente Determinadas (2016)
  3. Beneficios y costos de la participación en los prograas de desarrollo forestal relacionados con las medidas de las Contribuciones Nacionalmente Determinadas (2016)
  4. Valoración económica de servicios ecosistémicos y propuesta de costo de oportunidad para un Pago por Servicios Ambientales de las cuencas abastecedoras a Puerto Vallarta (2018).
  5. Actualización y robustecimiento del Índice de Presión Económica a la Deforestación (2018)

United States of America

  1. Annual briefs from the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) containing information on adoption and analyses of impacts of the use of genetically engineered crops
  2. Global impact of biotech crops: socio-economic and environmental effects 1996–2015. (2017)
  3. Economic impacts and impact dynamics of Bt cotton in India. (2012). PNAS

Third World Network

  1. Catacora-Vargas et al. (2018). Socio-economic Research on Genetically Modified Crops: A Study of the Literature. Agriculture and Human Values 35:489–51
  2. Wickson et al. (2017). Addressing Socio-Economic and Ethical Considerations in Biotechnology Governance: The Potential of a New Politics of Care. Food Ethics 1(2): 193-199
  3. Fischer et al. (2015). Social Impacts of GM Crops in Agriculture: A Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability 7(7), 8598-8620.
  4. Binimelis and Wickson (2018). The Troubled Relationship Between GMOs and Beekeeping: An Exploration of Socioeconomic Impacts in Spain and Uruguay. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 43(5)

Participants are invited to comment and add views to review the information submitted.

This Forum is closed.
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Forum 3: General discussion (discussion to take place during week 2 of the forum)

The submissions received contained a variety of information that may be of relevance to these discussions. Some of the submissions discussed in forums 1 and 2, in addition to providing case studies and links to relevant materials, may also raise other aspects that may be of general interest to this forum.

Participants are invited to provide any comments and views on any information submitted. Participants are reminded that all submissions are available here.

This Forum is closed.
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