P 131450Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4935
INFO ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS ABIDJAN 000115 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR OES DANIELLE WOOD AND EEB/TPP/MTAA/ABT 
MARCELLA SZYMANSKI. DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO USDA/FAS 
STEVE FROGGETT. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR ECON ETRD PREL TBIO KPAO IV
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE ON LIABILITY AND REDRESS UNDER THE 
CARTAGENA PROTOCOL ON BIOSAFETY 
 
REF: STATE 11910 
 
 
¶1. On February 12, econoff delivered reftel demarche to two 
representatives of the Ministry of the Environment, Water, 
and Forests:  Patrick Pedia, national point of contact for 
the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB), and Augustin Kone, 
national point of contact for the Biosafety Clearing-House. 
They reported that although the Ivorian National Assembly has 
approved Cote d'Ivoire's accession to the CPB, the MFA has 
not yet deposited the instruments of accession.  They do not 
expect Cote d'Ivoire to be a party to the CPB when the 
February 23-27 meeting on the Protocol takes place in Mexico. 
 Thus, Cote d'Ivoire will not send a representative to the 
meeting.  Pedia and Kone fully expect Cote d'Ivoire to be a 
party to the CPB by the time the Fifth Meeting of the Parties 
of the CPB takes place in Nagoya, Japan, and they believe 
Cote d'Ivoire will send one or more representatives to that 
meeting. 
 
¶2. Mr. Pedia was well versed in the issues to be debated at 
the Mexico meeting and said the issues had been widely 
discussed in Cote d'Ivoire for several years.  He provided 
GOCI views on each of the five key issues addressed in reftel. 
 
¶A. The GOCI believes the definition of "damage" should 
include damage to human health as well as damage to 
biodiversity.  Pedia noted that socio-economic damage would 
be difficult to prove. 
 
¶B. The GOCI holds that the definition of "operator" should be 
a function of the damage caused.  For example, if a firm in 
an importing country violates norms and creates an 
inadvertent release of a living modified organism (LMO) into 
the environment, that firm should be deemed an "operator." 
However, if an LMO has not been tested adequately and causes 
damage to human health, the firm that engineered the LMO 
should be defined as the "operator." 
 
¶C. The GOCI agrees with the USG that a "fault-based" standard 
of liability is more appropriate than "strict liability." 
Pedia noted that this position is closely related to the GOCI 
position on the definition of "operator." 
 
¶D. The GOCI believes that insurance (or similar financial 
instruments) for shipments of LMOs should be mandatory. 
However, the GOCI believes only moderate levels of insurance 
coverage should be required. 
 
¶E. The GOCI agrees with the USG that outcomes should be 
flexible enough so that governments may implement them within 
existing legal systems. 
 
 
NESBITT