Public Awareness and partcipation

ABSF/ABNETA overview of the private sector views on public participation under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

1. Sharing of Best Practices on National Experiences with Public Awareness and Participation Efforts.
2. International information exchange and sharing of best practices on public information and participation can assist Parties to comply with their obligations under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Protocol) in accordance with their own national laws.

Implementation of Article 23 on Public Participation

The private sector including ABSF and ABNETA and in most sub Sahara Africa countries supports the general application of public participation procedures to government decision-making relating to the deliberate release of living modified organisms into the environment, provided that the procedures are transparent, proportionate to the risks involved, do not hinder innovation, are supported by regulations, and cannot be used as a tactic to prevent government decision making or carrying out of authorized activities.

 

 

ABSF/ABNETA believe that given the importance of transparency to public acceptance of LMO decision-making in Africa, work under the Protocol to identify ways in which Parties may assist one another or cooperate to promote and facilitate public awareness, education and participation concerning the safe transfer, handling and use of LMOs is an important undertaking.


ABSF/ABNETA further believe that, while best practices can and should be shared, and options for further cooperation in this field explored, public participation opportunities must remain the concern and responsibility of national governments. As the Cartagena Protocol recognizes, consultation with the public as part of decision-making is necessarily unique to each country’s legal system, regulations and traditions. Given this reality, any efforts to establish international requirements under the Protocol, or to impose regionally applicable guidelines, should not be pursued.

 

In addition, ABSF/ABNETA believe any public participation that is permitted in a country with respect to decision-making on LMOs should not differ in any material way from participation permitted in that country on other matters that may impact the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Indeed, it should be noted many African countries do not yet have the regulatory frameworks necessary to support such systems for LMOs. Cartagena Protocol implementation work should focus first and foremost on the development of the capacity of all Parties to comply with their obligations under the Protocol.


Elements of a Decision on Public Participation


ABSF/ABNETA as part of the private sector therefore encourages Parties to leverage the Biosafety Clearing House as a means of recording and obtaining case studies of national approaches to the promotion of public awareness, education and participation concerning LMOs. Sharing and communicating these examples will go a long way towards facilitating the implementation of public participation in national biosafety frameworks.


The Biosafety Protocol


Article 23 of the Biosafety Protocol sets out a number of obligations in relation to public awareness and participation.  It obliges Parties, among other things, to:

1. Promote and facilitate public awareness, education and participation concerning the safe transfer, handling and use of LMOs in relation to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health. In doing so, the Parties are to cooperate, as appropriate, with other States and international bodies.
2. Endeavour to ensure that public awareness and education encompass access to information on LMOs that may be imported; and
3. In accordance with their respective laws and regulations - consult the public in the decision-making process regarding LMOs and to make the results of such decisions available to the public, while respecting confidential information.