Draft treaty sets preventative scheme for biodiversity damage+

TOKYO, June 26 Kyodo -
An international accord is being studied to enable states to order operators
who brought genetically modified crops across borders to take necessary
measures to prevent damage to local biodiversity, a latest draft text obtained
by Kyodo News showed Saturday.
The accord is being prepared for adoption as a supplemental protocol at the
fifth meeting of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, in place under the
Convention on Biological Diversity, to be held in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, in
October.
An earlier draft text Kyodo News obtained in March called for obliging
operators to restore the original state after it was confirmed that living
modified organisms, or LMOs, damaged local biodiversity.
According to the latest proposal, it is planned to enable the states to order
such operators to take necessary measures when the states see potential damage
to local biodiversity from LMOs that have been taken to their territories.
The proposal also calls on the operators to restore original situations when
damage is confirmed.
While LMOs' development and cross-border trading expanded, there has been
lingering concern they may cause damage to biodiversity, including health risks
to humans.
The draft supplementary protocol defines operators as those who deal with LMOs
directly or indirectly, including developers, producers, exporters, importers
and transport operators.
The international meeting's members are still divided over whether they will
seek to have not only LMOs but also products that utilize them be subject to
the envisioned supplement protocol.
As for a rule that would oblige operators to secure enough funds in preparation
of causing damage, Brazil and other exporters of LMOs are strongly resisting
the idea, while African nations are supporting it, informed sources said.
==Kyodo