The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Wto—Co-Existence or Incoherence?

Abstract

The beginning of the new millennium spawned a biosafety protocol¹ for the transboundary movement of genetically modified organisms,² against the background of an existing WTO code³ concerned mainly with liberal trade. The co-existence of the two codes, and their almost separate development, reflects the fact that the international movement of GMOs raises concerns both of biosafety and liberal trade. However, their co-existence also invites a number of questions—viz., the level to which they complement each other, the level of duplication, and the levels to which they are adequate qua normative frameworks for biotechnology products. In short, the two systems beg the question whether they co-exist happily, or provide for incoherence. This article is not intended as an exhaustive analysis of the codes, but rather as a framework for a focus on the respective codes, as well as their relationship to each other, from a legal perspective.