The FAO Legal Office and Animal Production and Health Division jointly prepared a paper entitled "The legal framework for the management of animal genetic resources" that has just been published as Number 24 in the Background Study Paper series of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. It reports the findings of a study of the international and national legal framework applicable to the conservation and sustainable use of farm animal genetic resources. The paper, based on responses to a questionnaire completed by 55 countries as well as additional research, describes the state of the development of relevant international law, reviews the approaches taken and problems identified in national legislation, as well as national implementation of the relevant international law. One of the international legally binding instruments it discusses is the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. See ftp://ext-ftp.fao.org/ag/cgrfa/BSP/bsp24e.pdf or contact FAO for more information.

09/11/2004