Québec supports to the ratification of
the Cartagena Protocol on preventing biotechnological risks
Québec City, May 27, 2005 ─ The Government of Québec decided supports
Canada’s ratification of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the
Convention on Biological Diversity. On the eve of the
2nd Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol, to be
held from May 30 to June 3, 2005 in Montréal, Monique Gagnon-Tremblay,
Minister of International Relations and Minister responsible for the
Francophonie, highlighted out that, “Québec grants a great deal of
importance to the integrity of biodiversity, which supports many of its
economic activities. That is why the government supports the Cartagena
Protocol within its fields of constitutional jurisdiction”. Such
declaration will come into effect after Canada has ratified the
Cartagena Protocol. “Today, we would like to reaffirm,
as indicated in our document: 'Shine among the best’ and in the
'Sustainable Development Plan for Québec’, that the issue of GMOs is an
important one for Québec. Indeed, the Cartagena Protocol constitutes one
of the major tools to promote the secure control of the circulation and
use of these products,” commented Thomas J. Mulcair, Minister of
Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, and Deputy Government
House Leader. The Québec government thereby answers
the concerns of interest groups in Québec by encouraging the federal
government to ratify and implement the Cartagena Protocol.
The Protocol’s objective is to help govern the transborder movements,
transfer, handling and use of any living modified organism (LMO), also
known as GMO, that could have unfavourable effects on the conservation
and sustainable use of our biological resources, as well as taking into
account the risks for human health.
Québec’s commitments have been expressed from day one
when the international community adopted, on January 29, 2000, in
Montréal, the text of the Protocol which is a result of the United
Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity. It should
also be noted that Québec was the first province in Canada to officially
support the signing of the Protocol by the federal government. The
National Assembly unanimously adopted the text of the Cartagena Protocol
by special motion on May 10, 2005. -30-
Information : 418 649-2345
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