The Advance Informed Agreement Procedure
The Advance Informed Agreement Procedure (AIA) as laid out in Article 7 of the CPB forms the second major cornerstone of the Protocol. The AIA procedure applies to the first intentional introduction of an LMO for intentional introduction into the environment in a country of import. This means a number of LMO use categories are excluded from the AIA procedure. These are:
- LMOs in transit: LMOs that are in transit through a country are exempted from the AIA procedure by Article 6, Paragraph 1.
- LMOs destined for contained use in the party of import: This category is exempted from the AIA procedure by Article 6, Paragraph 2. An example of contained use is research on LMOs confined to appropriately designed laboratories.
- LMOs intended for direct use as food or feed or for processing:
Living Modified Organisms intended for food, feed or processing (LMOs-FFP)are exempted from the AIA procedure by Paragraph 2 of Article 7.
- LMOs identified by the meeting of the parties to the Protocol as being not likely to have adverse impacts: The CPB provides for parties, through the Conference of the Parties to identify and agree on LMOs that are not likely to have adverse effects on conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity which would then be exempted from the AIA procedure.