Cartagena Protocol: what it is, objective and signatory countries

The principles of Cartagena Protocol they focus on the Safety of Biotechnology applied in the different Conventions on Biological Diversity that, at an international level, manage movements from one country to another of different species of Living Modified Organisms (LMOs).

This Biosafety Protocol was originally drafted in 1999, in the Colombian city of Cartagena de Indias (therefore known as the Cartagena Protocol), although it was not adopted and finalized until a year later, in the Canadian city of Montreal; being recognized as a complementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Finally, this protocol came into force on September 11, 2003.

With the ultimate goal of creating an environment suitable for the application of the most innovative and environmentally sustainable technologies, the Cartagena Protocol allows international biotechnology to obtain maximum benefit from its research, while minimizing the risks that said biotechnological activity can cause both to the environment and to the health of human beings. In this other Evidence Network article you can discover more about what biotechnology is and what it is for.

Let’s see in the next sections what are the specific objectives established by the interesting Cartagena Protocol, as well as the different countries that signed it.

The principles of the Cartagena Protocol they focus on the modern biotechnology safety transboundary, used in different living modified organisms. It is vital to guarantee said security since biotechnology applied to Biological Diversity can lead to different adverse effects in terms of the conservation and sustainable use of said biodiversity. In this context, 40 articles and 3 annexes collect each and every one of the objectives set out in Montreal, among them, objectives focused on the biotechnology safety of:

• Pharmaceutical products.
• Procedures for the use of living modified organisms intended for direct use as human or animal food.
• Risk assessments and management to avoid possible adverse effects that living modified organisms may suffer in their conservation and sustainable use as biological diversity.
• Handling, transportation, packaging and identification by the Biosafety Clearinghouse.
• Capacity building, awareness and public participation focused on safety in the transfer, manipulation and use of living modified organisms, taking into account their conservation and sustainable use, as well as possible risks to human health.
• Socio-economic considerations, financial mechanisms and resources, liability and compensation related to the different international standards and procedures resulting from transboundary movements of living modified organisms.

The countries that signed the Cartagena Protocol are 170. Each and every one of them presented their approval and participation in this important and essential international protocol aimed at guaranteeing the safety of biotechnological processes related to biological diversity.

Grouped according to the continent and/or geographic region to which they belong, some of these 170 countries that signed the Cartagena Protocol are:

• Africa: Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia. Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique and Senegal.
• South and Central America: Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay and Venezuela.
• Asia and the Pacific: Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Qatar, Thailand and Vietnam.
• Central and Eastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine.
• Western Europe: Austria, Belgium, Spain, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland and Türkiye.

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