Biosafety rules need scientists

A Belgian expert on biosafety has called on public sector scientists to band together in an effort to become a stronger influence at the next major meeting of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The protocol aims to protect biodiversity by setting guidelines for the import and export of living modified organisms (LMOs).In an interview with The Scientist, Willy De Greef said that he was not opposed to an agreement regulating genetically modified organisms. "We need an international agreement that harmonizes international movement of LMOs," he said. "I am not going on a crusade against the Cartagena Protocol." But De Greef, former global head of biotechnology regulatory affairs at Syngenta and now a private consultant, said the protocol in its current form severely limits the ability of scientists in public institutions to conduct biotechnology research that could help feed people in the developing world.Thus far, the public research scientific community has not acted as a major stakeholder in the decision-making platforms that have shaped the Cartagena Protocol, said De Greef, who also is affiliated with the Plant Biotechnology Institute for Developing Countries, Department of Molecular Genetics, Ghent University. De Greef said that at the first Meeting of Parties of the Cartagena Protocol earlier this year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, more than 100 representatives of nongovernment organizations represented a "rabidly anti-science and anti-technology agenda."But there was "no representation of the scientific community as a stakeholder" De Greef said. He asserted that the scientific information sessions of the meeting were dominated by "fringe figures who have been widely discredited in the scientific community." That is why he is trying to rally scientists to participate next June at the second Meeting of Parties of the Cartagena Protocol. In an article in Nature Biotechnology this month, De Greef called on interested scientists to join "a network aimed at giving a voice to public goods research in the upcoming negotiations on implementation of the Cartagena Protocol." "It is vital for the research community to be present there and to bring an informed view on biotechnology to the process," he wrote, adding that "the startup phase is facilitated with help from the European Federation of Biotechnology." De Greef told The Scientist that a major problem of the current version of the Cartagena Protocol is its vagueness. Scientists in different countries wishing to exchange LMOs sometimes look at the protocol and still have no idea what they need to do to gain regulatory approval, he said. "It's very, very complicated," De Greef said. "Very often, if you ask for guidance, you are not going to get an answer." He said he was currently consulting on two public research projects, helping the scientists "navigate" the regulatory procedure. "It is a nightmare," De Greef said, declining to identify the projects. He said the big multinational seed companies are able to spend millions of dollars to gain regulatory approval for projects. But this is not an option for most public research scientists. Hans-Jörg Buhk, head of the gene technology center at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, told The Scientist that international regulation of LMOs is necessary.But Buhk said of the Cartagena Protocol: "I would agree that it is an additional workload. I agree that it makes it difficult for scientists," adding that he had doubts whether third-world nations had the resources to comply with its regulations.Henning Strodthoff, gene technology expert at Greenpeace in Hamburg, told The Scientist that he could not comment specifically about De Greef's desire to set up a network of scientists to participate in next June's second Meeting of Parties of the Cartagena Protocol.But, Strodthoff said, "in general, we support the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety."

Biosafety rules need scientists

Scientists urged to be more involved in steering the Cartagena Protocol on biosafety

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