The term "liability" is normally associated with the obligation under the applicable law to provide for compensation for damage resulting from an action for which that person is deemed to be responsible. Liability and redress in the context of the Protocol concerns the question of what would happen if the transboundary movement of living modified organisms (LMOs) has caused damage.
The issue of liability and redress for damage resulting from the transboundary movements of LMOs was one of the themes on the agenda during the negotiation of the Biosafety Protocol. The negotiators were, however, unable to reach any consensus regarding the details of a liability regime under the Protocol. The matter was, nevertheless, considered both critical and urgent. As a result, an enabling clause to that effect was included in the final text of the Protocol (
Article 27).
Accordingly, the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (COP-MOP) established an Open-ended Ad Hoc Working Group of Legal and Technical Experts on Liability and Redress to fulfil the mandate under Article 27.
More>>