The meeting, entitled “First Dialogue on the Compact for Latin America and the Caribbean,” took place on June 18-19.

“The objective of the meeting was to foster an open dialogue on the contractual compensation mechanism known as the Compact, and to provide the private and public sectors with scientific information,” said Ramon Lastra, acting Director of Biotechnology and Biosafety of IICA.

According to the Executive Director of the Compact, Tom Carrato, “This voluntary instrument will provide parties with recourse for compensation in the event of damage to biological diversity.”

Even though events were held in Singapore in 2008 and in Germany in early 2009, this is the first official meeting held to exchange ideas on the mechanism. A second official meeting is programmed for Malaysia in March 2010, prior to the Meeting of the Parties (MOP) of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, to be held in Japan in October 2010.

The activity held at IICA was inaugurated by the Deputy Director General, Christopher Hansen, who said “Due to falling yields per hectare of food crops, we must find alternative ways to meet the food needs of the region and, at the same time, protect human health and the environment.

In this regard, IICA, through its Biotechnology and Biosafety Program, is promoting dialogue among countries and the different social sectors in order to improve implementation of relevant international agreements.

CropLife is a global federation that represents the plant science industry and addresses international developments in the area of crop protection (pesticides), agbiotechnology (genetically modified organisms - GMOs) and sustainable agriculture, and is made up of 6 companies. In the case of Latin America, it is associated with 18 countries in which it promotes research aimed at developing, manufacturing and marketing agrochemicals, biotechnology products and services.

For more information, contact
ramon.lastra@iica.int