Thank you for this question, which was very much to the point. I hope that my answer will be as concise.
An interesting fact is that the biosecurity protocol was signed in Montreal in 2000, and that the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity is based in Montreal. It is somewhat ironic that the host country of the secretariat has not ratified the protocol. In fact, the biosecurity protocol is part of and originated with the Convention on Biological Diversity.
A major environmental concern is cross-border GMO contamination. The main objective of the international protocol is to make transfers between two countries transparent. Transparency means that the country receiving GMO products will be aware of this fact. The protocol also aims for transparency with regard to studies conducted and sets out a compensation mechanism in case of a disaster, which makes it possible to decide who will be paying out compensation.
So far, 160 countries have signed this protocol, but Canada has not. I try to follow the Canadian delegation during negotiations, and I find it somewhat surprising that Canada is always boasting that its biosecurity standard is similar or even superior to that outlined in the Cartagena Protocol on Biosecurity. If that is indeed the case, there is no reason why Canada should not ratify the protocol. My question is: Why has it not done so?
The United States cannot ratify the Cartagena Protocol on Biosecurity because it has not ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity. This is the reality our colleagues to the south are facing. Since the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed, we have been part of a free trade space with Mexico, which has ratified the Cartagena Protocol on Biosecurity.