Little progress, conflict of interests & unabated unintentional transboundary movements Closing Statement by Civil Society at MOP7 While we welcome the continued work on risk assessment and socio-economic considerations via the continuation of two AHTEGs (Ad Hoc Groups), progress on these issues is regrettably still too little, very late and largely repetitive. These two issues are of central importance to the Protocol, and to many Parties’ implementation of biosafety. There must be no more delay in developing further guidance and guidelines in order to assist Parties in their implementation of the Protocol. Implementation is crucial to safeguarding biological diversity, human health, and the well being of peoples everywhere. In the…
GM Canola Contamination Cases In Japan
How to reduce GM contamination cases? Masaharu Kawata, Japan Citizens’ Network for Sustainable Food and Agriculture Side-event presentation at the MOP7 conference in Pyeongchang, South Korea Countries must do more to implement the Strategic Plan for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety 2011-2020. At our MOP7 side-event we discussed the adverse effects of LMO in different countries. Regarding corn, there have been reports of GM contamination in Brazil, South Africa and Kenya. As for Switzerland and Japan, wild growing GM canola has been found. Also, wild growing crops were found in South Korea, and citizens have started doing independent testing. How does this relate to the Strategic Plan? We have been…
Impressions from the MOP7 in Pyeongchang, from the NGO perspective
The Cartagena Protocol is an important tool to deal with transboundary movements of Living Modified Organisms. The MOP7 met in Pyeongchang, South Korea to discuss risk assessment, unintentional or illegal shipments, and how to help countries share information. Also on the agenda was capacity building and guidance, especially ways to aid developing countries, many of which are rich in biodiversity and need assistance to avoid contamination from imports. MOP7 heard a number of delegates voice concern about a lack of resources to deal with GM field trials and how to test and identify suspect cargoes. The MOP7 was criticized by local Korean non-governmental organizations who felt left out of the…
CBD Meeting At The House of Representatives, Tokyo
We will be holding a meeting at The House of Representatives in Nagatacho, Tokyo on Thursday September 4, 2014 to discuss the upcoming UN conference about biological diversity. Consumers Union of Japan and the many groups and networks that follow these issues will ask questions to the government and elected representatives in the Parliament (Diet) that also care strongly about these issues. The public is invited. We will participate in the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) conference in South Korea this fall. Leading up to that conference, we hope this event will be a fruitful discussion about Japan’s lack of progress to ratify the Nagoya Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol,…
Japan Resources No. 160
Here is the latest Japan Resources, our English newsletter, in pdf format. Do print it out for your library or send to anyone who may be interested. We compile news like this because it is easier to read than a website… And this is our 160th issue since starting this service back in 1980! There wasn’t much in English about Japanese NGO activities or campaigns from the civil sector, and of course that has changed since then, but we still believe Japan Resources has a role to play. We warmly welcome your support, and if you want to make a contribution*, please contact the office. Editors Japan Resources No. 160…