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Cartagena Protocol - Swiss Ratification
Of equal standing to other existing international agreements, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety takes into consideration the potential environmental impacts from the use of genetically modified organisms.The Protocol is a new, legal instrument regulating the movement of living modified organisms from one country to another.The Swiss Federal Parliament has accepted the ratification of the Protocol by Switzerland, thus clearing the way to the ratification by the Federal Council.Ratification of the Protocol will not require any changes to the legislation in place.
Source: http://www.parlament.ch/ab/frameset/d/s/4611/44734/d_s_4611_44734_44821.htm
Cartagena Protocol - European Union
There is a strong political will in EU Member States to ratify the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.According to the analysis presented by the EU Commission, the implementation of the Protocol within the EU should be unproblematic and without additional costs other than those already imposed by existing Community legislation.However, a new EU Regulation will be necessary to establish legal clarity and to address horizontal issues, such as the sharing of roles between the EU and its Member States regarding notification obligations.
Source: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/pdf/2002/en_502PC0085.pdf
Codex Alimentarius Draft Texts - Food Safety
At the conclusion of its recent meeting on 4-8 March 2002, the Codex Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology adopted two draft texts on risk analysis of foods derived from modern biotechnology and safety assessment of recombinant DNA plants.The Codex Alimentarius Commission is a standard-setting body working closely together with other international organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), for the protection of consumer health.
Source: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/Default.htm
Transgenic Cotton: Soil and Bt - Ecosystem
In a recently published study, researchers tested soil samples for the residual concentration of the Cry1Ac protein in fields where Bt cotton (Bollgard) had been grown for 3-6 consecutive years.They found the amount of the insecticidal protein in soil, from repeated cultivation of transgenic cotton, to be extremely low and below any detectable biological activity.
Source: Environmental Ecology (2002) 31: 30-26.
