The Biosafety Protocol and the WTO

Just a few Yotes shy of entering into force, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is poised to become the next multilateral environmental agreement that has the potential to pit trade interests against enYironmental concerns. Nevertheless, concerns over impending conflict with the WTO trade regime may be misplaced. A detailed analysis of the rights and obligations of the parties to the Protocol and the applicable WTO disciplines reYeals few instances of probable conflict. The United States, one of the largest exporters of LMOs, has not signed or ratified the Protocol. Thus, the determination that no conflict exists is of particular importance if the Protocol is to be effective in the likely scenario where the exporting country is not a party to the Protocol but both it and the importing country are members of the WTO