It is called the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to honor Colombia, which hosted the extraordinary Conference of the Parties in Cartagena last year. The Biosafety Protocol will help protect the environment without unnecessarily disrupting world food trade. It assists developing countries in building their capacity for managing modern biotechnology.
Food safety is addressed by experts in other international fora.
The Protocol does not require consumer product labeling. The mandate of the Protocol was to address potential risks to biodiversity that may be presented by living modified organisms. Issues related to consumer preference were not part of this negotiation. Although the United States is not a Party to the CBD and therefore can not become a Party to the Biosafety Protocol, the U.S. participated in the negotiations as a member of the Miami Group, a coalition of leading agricultural exporters that also included Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile and Uruguay. The Protocol provides countries the opportunity to obtain information before new biotech organisms are imported.