Environment

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety was adopted in 2000 as a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity and seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology.

(a) In negotiating the Protocol, Japan has taken the position that measures taken in importing LMOs should be based on scientific evidence and ensure both the safety of LMO biodiversity and international trade of LMOs. Based on that position, Japan has played a leading role in bridging diversions between the exporting and importing countries of LMOs.

(b) Since becoming the Party of the Protocol in 2004, Japan has participated in various meetings under the Protocol. The Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (COP-MOP 6) was held in Nagoya in 2010, and it achieved important results such as adopting the “Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol”, which address response measures in the event of damage or sufficient likelihood of damage to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity resulting from living modified organisms that find their origin in transboundary movement.