GMO amendment
International workshops on access to information, public participation and access to justice regarding GMOs
Working Group on GMOs
Joint Aarhus Convention/Cartagena Protocol workshop on public awareness, access to information and public participation regarding LMOs/GMOs
8-9 October 2010, Nagoya, Japan
A joint Aarhus Convention/Cartagena Protocol workshop on public awareness, access to information and participation regarding living modified organisms/genetically modified organisms (LMOs/GMOs) was held on 8 - 9 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan, immediately before the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP).
The workshop was organized in response to COP-MOP decisions BS-II/6 and BS-II/13 and to decision II/1 of the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention which call for cooperation between the Aarhus Convention and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety with a view to maximizing synergy and avoiding duplication of effort.
The workshop was intended to provide an opportunity for participants to share knowledge and experiences and lessons learned in promoting public awareness, access to information and participation in the subject area. It also produced recommendations to contribute to the discussions on the programme of work on public awareness, education and participation concerning LMOs/GMOs at COP-MOP 5 and also to facilitate the implementation of the Aarhus Convention’s Almaty Amendment on GMOs.
Focal points to both agreements were encouraged to collaborate closely on the preparation for the workshop and on the expected contributions from their respective countries to the formal sessions of COP-MOP.
Documents for the workshop
| Provisional agenda |
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| Information note for participants (prepared by CBD secretariat) |
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| Report |
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| List of participants |
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ENG |
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| Aarhus Convention GMO Amendment |
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| Lucca Guidelines |
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| Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, Article 23 |
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Presentations delivered at the workshop
| Overview of Article 23 of the Cartagena Protocol and the programme of work on public awareness, education and participation: |
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| Erie Tamale, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity |
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| Overview of article 6, paragraph 11 and the GMO Amendment to the Aarhus Convention: |
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| Fiona Marshall, Aarhus Convention secretariat, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe |
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| Outreach and awareness-raising regarding LMOs/GMOs in developing countries: |
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| Lim Li Ching, Third World Network |
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| Access to information, including access to scientific information and risk assessment: |
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| Ricarda Steinbrecher, Federation of German Scientists |
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| Access to information case study 1: Outreach to small scale farmers in South Africa. |
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| Access to information Case study 2: Labelling of GM food in Australia. |
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| Experiences with developing and implementing national mechanisms, frameworks and systems: |
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| Hoang Thi Thanh Nhan, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Vietnam |
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| National experiences in implementing the Aarhus Convention and the Cartagena Protocol: |
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| Angela Lozan, Ministry for Environment, Moldova |
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| Ilya Trombitsky, ECO Tiras International Environmental Association of Riverkeepers, Moldova |
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| Ivan Narkevitch, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, Belarus |
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| Public participation in LMO/GMO risk assessment procedures: |
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| Duncan Currie, Senior Legal Advisor, Greenpeace International |
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| Public Participation case study 1: |
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| Public Participation case study 2: |
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| Implementation and enforcement of LMO/GMO-related laws: |
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| Lydia Astanina, “Greenwomen” Environmental Analytical Agency, Kazakhstan |
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| Serhiy Vykryst, European ECO Forum, Ukraine |
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| Bathar Kone, African Union Commission |
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| Irina Maia, GENET - European Network on Genetic Engineering, Portugal |
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| Different types of public participation in LMO/GMO decisions: |
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| Martin Batic, Ministry of the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy, Slovenia |
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In the table above, links to documents appear using the following abbreviations and icons:
File formats: – PDF file; 
– MS Word DOC file – Powerpoint file
Languages: ENG – English; FRE – French; RUS – Russian
Documents available for downloading are indicated in blue typeface: ENG FRE RUS.
International workshop on access to information, public participation and access to justice regarding GMOs,
19-20 May 2008, Cologne, Germany
On 19-20 May 2008 in Cologne, Germany, Parties to the Aarhus Convention held an international workshop on access to information, public participation and access to justice with respect to GMOs.
The workshop brought interested governments, international organizations, NGOs, industry and academia together to identify the most pressing needs and challenges regarding access to information, public participation and access to justice with respect to GMOs and to facilitate exchange on good practices to address them. The workshop had a particular focus on the needs and challenges facing countries in transition (especially those from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia) and developing countries.
The date and location of the workshop was chosen in order to coincide with the fourth meeting of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety's Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties (CoP/Mop-4) which was held in nearby Bonn the week before. A number of experts attending CoP/MoP-4 stayed on to take part in the workshop, including experts from over a dozen non-UNECE countries.
The workshop was designed to be as interactive as possible and to consider the issues from a variety of perspectives. As well as hearing presentations by prominent experts, participants had the opportunity to take part in interactive issues-based discussion groups. The workshop was conducted in English with French and Russian interpretation provided during most of the sessions. Some limited financial assistance was available to assist the attendance of a number of participants from developing and economies-in-transition countries and NGOs.
The provisional programme, list of participants and other relevant documentation are available in the table below.
| List of participants |
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| Annotated programme |
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| Report |
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| Questions for participants |
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ENG |
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| Aarhus Convention GMO Amendment |
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ENG |
FRE |
RUS |
| Lucca Guidelines |
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ENG |
FRE |
RUS |
| Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, Article 23 |
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ENG |
- |
- |
In the table above, links to documents appear using the following abbreviations and icons:
File formats: – PDF file; – MS Word DOC file
Languages: ENG – English; FRE – French; RUS – Russian
Documents available for downloading are indicated in blue typeface: ENG FRE RUS.