February 2016: The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has released the report of the Ad hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on Risk Assessment and Risk Management of Living Modified Organisms (LMOs). The AHTEG: revised the Guidance on Risk Assessment of LMOs based on comments received; considered whether guidance on additional issues could be incorporated into the existing guidance; updated the list of background documents to the Guidance; and developed a plan for further work.

In line with the mandate adopted at the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP 7), the AHTEG considered comments submitted by Parties, governments and relevant organizations based on practical testing of the Guidance. The group agreed that some comments may be taken on board and provided justification why other comments should not be included in the revised Guidance. Participants also agreed that a subgroup will develop practical examples to illustrate how the Guidance can inform risk assessment under different regulatory frameworks.

Regarding the incorporation of additional guidance, the AHTEG decided that the following topics should be addressed by adding information boxes under the relevant sections of the first part of the Guidance (Roadmap for Risk Assessment of LMOs): LMOs introduced in centers of origin and genetic diversity and LMOs intended for introduction into unmanaged ecosystems; LMOs created through the use of dsRNA techniques, engineered to produce dsRNA and LMOs containing RNAi; integrating human health into the environmental risk assessment; and synergistic impacts of different herbicides that are part of the technology package that accompanies certain LMOs.

The annex to the report contains the updated Guidance, including the revisions and comments made by the AHTEG in track changes. Another annex contains the updated workplan that outlines further work to be undertaken prior to COP-MOP 8.

In related news, Togo ratified the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on 8 February 2016, bringing the number of Parties that have ratified to 32. Adopted in 2010, the Supplementary Protocol will enter into force once it has been ratified by 40 Parties. [Report of the Ad hoc Technical Expert Group on Risk Assessment an Risk Management] [Natural Resource Policy & Practice Stories on LMO Risk Assessment under the Cartagena Protocol] [Parties to the Supplementary Protocol]