Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Biosafety

Countries of the Americas present their positions on biosafety

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

This month, 20 IICA member countries will be taking part in the Conference of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

San Jose, Costa Rica, 12 September 2014 (IICA). The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) enabled 19 countries in the Americas to share their positions on biosafety and the reduction of the potential risk of the use of living modified organisms (LMOs), in the run up to the next world meeting on these issues, which will be held in the Republic of Korea from 29 September to 3 October.

Representatives of national biosafety authorities of Southern Agricultural Council (CAS) also held a meeting in Costa Rica.

In a meeting held at IICA’s Headquarters in San Jose, 38 representatives of national biosafety authorities (ministries of agriculture and environment and national commissions on the subject) of the countries of the Americas agreed to request clear, precise guidance on risk assessment and analysis, and to discuss further the socioeconomic ramifications of the use of LMOs in agriculture.

The proposals will be put to the seventh Conference of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which will take place in the Korean city of Pyeongchang.

Agriculture faces the challenge of supplying food to the world’s population, set to top nine billion by 2050. International organizations like IICA and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and public-private partnerships such as the Global Harvest Initiative (GHI) have suggested that Latin America and the Caribbean can make major contributions to food security if technology is introduced and new investment is forthcoming to raise productivity in the agricultural sector.

At the meeting organized by IICA, held at the beginning of September, the countries were also of the opinion that it was viable and realistic to incorporate the phrase “may contain LMOs” in the invoices of grain shipments, the Institute’s coordinator of biotechnology and biosafety, Pedro Rocha, explained.

The nations that took part in the preparatory meeting were Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and the U.S.

“IICA promotes a neutral space for dialogue to enable the countries to exchange ideas and positions, resolve differences and seek consensus; we also provide science-based knowledge for decision-making on agriculture, biotechnology and biosafety,” the Institute’s Director General, Víctor M. Villalobos, pointed out.

Since entering into force in 2003, the Cartagena Protocol has been used to promote the safe use of biotechnology and the reduction of the potential risks associated with the use of LMOs for biodiversity and human and animal health.

In ratifying the protocol, countries pledge to create biosafety frameworks, regardless of the sovereign position of each nation on the use of biotechnology in agriculture.

Parallel to the preparatory meeting for the Conference of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol, representatives of the North American Biotechnology Initiative (NABI) and the Southern Agricultural Council (CAS) met at IICA to increase the dialogue on biosafety between the two regions of the hemisphere.

A meeting also took place of representatives of the countries that make up the Central American Initiative on Biotechnology and Biosafety (ICABB), created in February 2013 with assistance from IICA.

The delegates of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru met to share information about the biosafety situation in their countries and agreed to maintain more effective communication, using technological platforms facilitated by IICA to do so.

For further information: 
pedro.rocha@iica.int

 

Share

Related news​

Santa Fé, Darién, Panamá

September 4, 2025

Coordination between IICA and Panamanian and U.S. government authorities bolsters the fight against New World screwworm in Central America and Mexico

As part of the efforts to curb the spread of the New World screwworm (NWS), a current health threat in Central America and Mexico, the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA) of Panama, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Panama-United States Commission for the Eradication and Prevention of Screwworm (COPEG) organized a meeting with livestock farmers in the city of Santa Fé de Darién to strengthen health surveillance and better protect local livestock production.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

El Director General del IICA, Manuel Otero, reafirmó en la inauguración de Biohélice 2025 el compromiso del Instituto con la bioeconomía como eje estratégico para transformar el agro y revitalizar los territorios rurales. En el acto lo acompañaron la Directora General de CINDE, Marianela Urgellés; el Rector de la UNA, Jorge Herrera; y el presidente de CRBiomed, Álvaro Peralta.

San Jose, Costa Rica

September 3, 2025

Specialists and partners at a meeting spearheaded by IICA view the bioeconomy as essential in positioning Costa Rica and the Americas as leaders in sustainability and production transformation

The bioeconomy specialists were participating in Biohélice 2025, an event organized by Costa Rica’s Universidad Nacional, the CRBiomed association and IICA, which brought together more than 130 participants with an interest in innovation and bioeconomy.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Alagoas, Brasil

September 1, 2025

Eliane Faria de Souza, a fisherwoman from Northeastern Brazil combining old traditions with innovative ideas to protect the environment, is named an IICA Leader of Rurality of the Americas

Eliane works with other women in the region to transform polluting waste substances into organic fertilizer.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins