Public Participation in Environmental Matters and Trade in GMO's

Abstract

The international and national environmental law have attempted to react the challenges posed by the developing biotech industries in the last decades, and several efforts have been made in order to improve the transparency and to give opportunity to the public to get involved in all relevant stages of the decision-making procedures on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). One of the striking examples could be the Aarhus Convention, which itself does not contain large set of rules regarding the GMOs, but Almaty Amendment, still under ratification, will result essential changes in this regard. Consequently the following paper aims at analyzing whether the framework of the Aarhus Convention is eligible to give a tool to the growing public awareness regarding the trade in GMOs and to show how can the general and specific provisions of the Convention be applied in that field.