The First Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP/MOP-1) took place from 23-27 February 2004, at the Putra World Trade Centre, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Over 750 participants attended the meeting, representing 81 Parties to the Protocol, 79 non-Parties, as well as UN agencies, non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations, indigenous and local communities, academia and industry.
Eighty-seven Parties have now ratified the Biosafety Protocol and, as more countries continue towards ratification, the first meeting of the Parties faced the important task of setting up the operational framework to enable the Protocol’s effective implementation. Delegates had their hands full with issues such as developing a compliance procedure, elaborating documentation requirements under Article 18 (Handling, transport, packaging and identification (HTPI)), setting up the process for drafting rules and procedures on liability and redress and addressing capacity building and the Biosafety Clearing-house (BCH). Although stumbling blocks were encountered over the establishment of a Compliance Committee and documentation accompanying movements of living modified organisms (LMOs) destined for use as food, feed or processing (LMO-FFPs), COP/MOP-1 was successful in setting up a framework for implementation and it will be remembered as a major stepping stone in the history of the Protocol.
According to the meeting’s decisions, all bulk shipments of LMO-FFPs are to be identified as “may contain LMOs.” The accompanying documentation should also indicate the contact details of the importer, exporter or other appropriate authority. Over the next year an expert group will further elaborate the documentation and handling requirements. Key issues that still need to be resolved include the percentage of modified material that these shipments may contain and still be considered GMO-free, and the inclusion of any additional detailed information. A decision on these matters will be considered at the next meeting, to be held in 2005. Agreement has also been reached on more detailed documentation requirements for those LMOs that are meant to be introduced directly into the environment. The documentation accompanying such LMOs should specify the common, scientific and commercial names of the modified organism, the transformation event code or unique identifier code, any handling and storage requirements, contact details in the case of emergency, and how the LMO is to be used.
The meeting also managed to adopt procedures and mechanisms for promoting compliance with the Protocol and assisting countries in cases of non-compliance. It established a 15-member Compliance Committee that will submit regular reports and recommendations to the meeting of the Parties. A negotiating group of legal and technical experts on liability and redress for damages resulting from transboundary movements of LMOs was also launched and requested to develop a regime by 2008. The Earth Negotiations Bulletin report outlining these discussions in detail can be found at: http://enb.iisd.org/biodiv/bs-copmop1/