Third Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP/MOP 3) Serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (13-17 March 2006, Curitiba, Brazil) - Compilation of EU Stateme

Brussels, Apr 2006

Full text of Document 8569/06
Suite of documents 8569/06

Subject: Third meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP/MOP 3) serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (13-17 March 2006, Curitiba, Brazil)
- Compilation of EU statements/speaking points

Delegations will find attached for information a compilation of EU statements/speaking points delivered by the Austrian Presidency on behalf of the European Community and its Member States at COP/MOP 3.

Opening Statement

Mr Chairman, distinguished delegates, 1. At this third meeting of the Parties, Austria, as EU Presidency, has the honour to speak on behalf of the European Community and its Member States. The accession countries, Bulgaria and Romania, the candidate countries, Croatia, Turkey and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the countries of the stabilisation and association process, and potential candidates, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia and Montenegro align themselves with this statement and with the others that follow under other agenda items. The EU is confident that, with your assistance and guidance, Mr Chairman, we will be able to make significant progress at this meeting. 2. At the outset, the EU wishes to express its sincere thanks to the Government and people of Brazil for kindly hosting this 3rd Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in this beautiful city of Curitiba. We also like to convey our sincere gratitude to the Executive Secretary and his staff for their continuous efforts to support the Protocol and their preparatory work for this meeting. 3. Since entry into force of the Protocol in September 2003, we have seen rapid development, with 132 countries currently being Parties to the Protocol. This number is still steadily increasing and shows the success of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety as a cornerstone for a global framework for sustainable development. 4. The EU welcomes the decisions adopted by the first two meetings of the Parties to give operational effect to the Protocol and considers these as the basis for further discussions at this third meeting of the Parties. 5. We look forward to further constructive and fruitful deliberations with other Parties, other governments and stakeholders at this meeting. 6. In the EU's opinion, the main objective is to take necessary steps further to implement and to arrive at an effective international biosafety framework. In this regard, we will continue to bear in mind the needs of developing countries, small island developing states and countries with economies in transition, as well as the interests of both importing and exporting countries. 7. The EU calls for the adoption of a decision on documentation requirements for shipments of LMO-FFPs at this meeting, as required under Article 18.2(a) of the Protocol. This decision should confirm and further develop the requirements set out in the decision of the first meeting of the Parties. The EU firmly believes that such a COPMOP/3 decision is of pivotal importance to contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the Protocol.

8. Furthermore, the EU attaches great importance to decisions on the BCH, risk assessment and risk management and capacity-building, further to facilitate the implementation of the Protocol. In this context we would like to draw your attention to a side event co-hosted by Austria as the EU Presidency and the European Commission. This side event entitled "The role of the European Union in Biosafety Capacity Building" will take place in room ... at lunch time. Lunch will be provided.

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