Informal talks began Thursday. The meeting is sponsored by the U.N. Environmental Program and is an extension of failed talks 11 months ago in Cartagena, Colombia, on what is called the Biosafety Protocol. The Cartagena meeting collapsed when the United States, Canada, Australia, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile blocked a draft accepted by 125 other countries. The U.S. and other grain-exporting countries demanded that commodities such as corn and soy beans be exempted from strict controls even though they account for most of the global trade in genetically modified goods. Critics of genetic engineering say gene-splicing has the potential for environmental catastrophe.
Proponents say such arguments ignore the promise and benefits to humanity of scientific advancement.
Stabinsky and other speakers said that as genetically modified plants crossbreed and evolve, the dangers range from disrupting natural processes to causing extinctions.