15 October 2010: The fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP/MOP 5) was held from 11-15 October 2011 in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The meeting adopted the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and 16 other decisions on biosafety-related issues.

The Supplementary Protocol was finalized during the fourth meeting of the Group of Friends of the Co-Chairs on Liability and Redress in the context of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, held from 6-10 October 2010, in Nagoya, Japan. During that meeting, agreement was reached on outstanding issues with regard to the draft supplementary protocol on liability and redress, namely financial security, on the definition of “LMOs and products thereof.” The adoption of the Supplementary Protocol, which is regarded as filling a key gap in the implementation of the Biosafety Protocol, was hailed as an important success against the background of complex and often protracted negotiations. [IISD RS coverage]