Preparatory talks started Wednesday on an international accord on compensation for damage caused by genetically modified crops to biodiversity and human health, kicking off three weeks of biodiversity talks in Nagoya.
The three days of talks precede the fifth meeting of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in Nagoya from Oct. 11 to 15, which will seek to adopt the accord as a supplement to the protocol under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The accord aims to enable states to order operators who bring in damage-causing genetically modified living organisms to take necessary restorative measures.
While countries have agreed on an overall framework of the accord, issues remain unresolved, including whether to include derivative products made using modified living organisms that do not contain such organisms themselves, and whether to set up a compensation fund.
The main Nagoya confab is the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.