1. Malaysia, one of the 12 megadiverse country in this planet and home to the world’s oldest rainforest. Being a megadiverse country, Malaysia puts great emphasis on one of the most challenging issue facing us today - biosafety.
2. Biosafety ensures the potential adverse impact of modern biotechnology is minimised and managed in a manner that it does not have a negative impact on biodiversity and human health.
3. We all recognize that modern biotechnology is a new knowledge intensive technology which is fast growing and if used ethically and wisely has the potential to address some of the problems and challenges the world is facing in terms of agriculture, food and medicine.
4. Malaysia being blessed with rich biodiversity has huge potential in using these resources in a sustainable manner for new wealth creation. The New Economic Model for Malaysia which is being introduced by the Rt Hon Prime Minister of Malaysia, stresses the huge potential that biological resources can play in generating wealth for the nation while catering for social well being. One of the ways to utilise this biological resources as identified in the National Policy on Biodiversity and The National Biotechnology Policy is by the application of biotechnology.
5. While venturing into new areas of biotechnology such as genetic engineering and manipulation, the Government of Malaysia has a clear policy which is supported by a legal framework- The Malaysian Biosafety Act 2007. Our approach in addressing modern biotechnology is balanced, which calls for the need for biodiversity and human health concerns to be addressed, while allowing for modern biotechnology to be developed in a safe manner. Hence while balancing the need to allow for technological development we must not compromise on safety.
6. Malaysia in the early days of the negotiations of the Convention on Biological Diversity played an important role in introducing the provision for the need to regulate modern biotechnology.
7. From then and through very intense negotiations, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety was adopted in the year 2000. Since its adoption, the Protocol has received remarkable support and steady progress in its implementation. The number of Parties to the Protocol continues to grow, and currently stands at 158. This is a clear sign of the confidence the global community places in the Protocol and recognition of the need for international cooperation in ensuring the safe transfer, handling and use of products of modern biotechnology.
8. But to ensure the full and effective implementation of the Protocol, unresolved issues such as Liability and Redress have to be addressed and I know all of you have been working very hard to ensure we have a text for adoption in Nagoya come COP 10 in October 2010. Liability and Redress is an important element because if a LMO causes damage there must be redress as it has potential to affect biodiversity and harm human health. Hence having a clear Liability and Redress provision gives confidence to the usage of LMOs. It too will display the commitment of the developers of these organisms that they are safe for the intended usage and environment.
9. The safety or the LMOs as per the risk assessment and management and with a clear liability and redress provision will allow for the taking of responsibility if any damage from the utilisation of LMOs would have to happen. This is very important as we have to build public trust and confidence in any new technology and product and since LMOs too are rather new, we need a supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to address these concerns.
10. In this respect Malaysia will continue to engage constructively in the negotiations and we hope our warm tropical climate will create the condusive environment for consensus and I personally hope that by the end of this week we have a text which is ready for some final polishing in Nagoya and ready to be adopted. Malaysia would render all support to make this Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress a reality in COP 10. This is a continued demonstration of our seriousness in this issue ever since we hosted MOP1 where the mandate for the negotiation of this Liability and Redress was established and we have hosted 2 out 3 Friends of the Co-Chair meeting. Hence we hope we could conclude on this issue soon as stipulated under Article 27 of the Protocol.
Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment