International Biosafety Documents

Appendix P specifies physical and biological containment conditions and practices suitable to the greenhouse conduct of experiments involving recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecule-containing plants, plant-associated microorganisms, and small animals.

The reader will find new information on containment strategies for research with exotics (non-native invasive species), pathogens, insects, and genetically engineered (GE) plant-manufactured pharmaceuticals and industrial compounds, and on high containment for quarantined organisms, including those on the Select Agent list.

This Biosafety Resource Book aims at providing biosafety regulators, policy-makers and members of national biosafety committees with reference materials that can be readily consulted beyond the training events, when the need arises.

The Integrated Confinement System for Genetically Engineered Plants provides model procedures and documents for the regulation and conduct of Confined Field Trials (CFTs) with genetically engineered (GE) plants. These models may be used by regulators and scientists in their efforts to develop a comprehensive national system ensuring biosafety, accountability and transparency in field evaluations of GE plants.

This Guideline supports the Principles for the Risk Analysis of Foods Derived from Modern Biotechnology. It addresses safety and nutritional aspects of foods consisting of, or derived from, animals that have a history of safe use as sources of food, and that have been modified by modern biotechnology to exhibit new or altered expression of traits.

This Guideline supports the Principles for the Risk Analysis of Foods Derived from Modern Biotechnology and addresses safety and nutritional aspects of foods produced through the actions of recombinant-DNA microorganisms.

This Guideline supports the Principles for the Risk Analysis of Foods Derived from Modern Biotechnology. It addresses safety and nutritional aspects of foods consisting of, or derived from, plants that have a history of safe use as sources of food, and that have been modified by modern biotechnology to exhibit new or altered expression of traits.

The purpose of these Principles is to provide a framework for undertaking risk analysis on the safety and nutritional aspects of foods derived from modern biotechnology. This document does not address environmental, ethical, moral and socio-economic aspects of the research, development, production and marketing of these foods.

The main goal of the guide is to facilitate the understanding of the legal obligations of the Parties under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. It is an explanatory guide, which attempts to provide an information base on the content and origin of the provisions of the Protocol.

The Parties to this Protocol, being Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, hereinafter referred to as “the Convention”, Recalling Article 19, paragraphs 3 and 4, and Articles 8 (g) and 17 of the Convention, recalling also decision II/5 of 17 November 1995 of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention to develop a Protocol on Biosafety, specifically focusing on transboundary movement of any living modified organism.

Molecular characterisation is one component of the science-based multi-disciplinary approach used in food, feed and environmental risk/safety assessment of plants derived from modern biotechnology. The molecular characterisation of these plants is used to gain an understanding of the genetic material introduced and expressed in them. The purpose of this document is to explain the scientific basis underlying the application of molecular characterisation to the food, feed and environmental risk/safety assessment of these plants.

WHO published the first edition of the Laboratory biosafety manual in 1983. Since 1983, many countries have used the expert guidance provided in the manual to develop codes of practice. A second edition of the manual was published in 1993, and this third edition was published in 2004.