THE REPORT OF UNEP EXPERT PANEL IV TWO YEARS LATER: ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE
by Michael Lane & Richard Schweiger
Presented to the meeting of the Expert Panel on bio-safety, established by the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity
Madrid, Spain
July 1995
The authors may be reached for comment:
Michael F. Lane
2733 St Paul St., no 1
Baltimore, MD 21218
USA
Telephone/Facsimile 410.235.8565
E mail barrenador@nothingness.org
Worldwide web: http://www.charm.net/~gbarren/cv
Richard Schweiger
Community Nutrition Institute
910 17th Street NW
Suite 413
Washington, DC 20006
USA
Telephone 202.776.0595
Facsimile 202.776.0599
E mail cnii@igc.apc.org
Worldwide web: http://www.access.digex.net/~cni
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thanks the following persons who reviewed drafts of this paper and offered comments and criticism.
Phil Bereano, Council for Responsible Genetics
Beth Burrows, Edmonds Institute
Chee Yoke Ling, Third World Network
Sue Edwards, National Herbarium of Ethiopia
Tewolde Burhan Gebre Egziabher, National Herbarium of
Ethiopia
Isabelle Meister, Greenpeace International
Doreen Stabinsky, Biotechnology Working Group
Étienne Vernet, Ecoropa
TABLE OF CONTENTS
[History of the Convention on Biological Diversity; UNEP Expert Panel IV; purpose of the present analysis]The relationship of the CBD to bio-safety
[The particulars of the CBD; the work of the COP; the unique context of the CBD]US objection to the Expert Panel IV Report
Review of Expert Panel IV minority position
[Scientific case for a bio-safety protocol; adaptability; public perception; overlap/duplication; codes of conduct/"soft law"; national legislation/sovereignty of the state; administrative costs of separate treatment; implementing Agenda 21; quantifying risks; products to be covered by a protocol]