Legislation

Transboundary movement

Basic legislation

Regulation (EC) No 1946/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2003 on transboundary movements of genetically modified organisms.

The EU is party to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which entered into force on 11 September 2003. This Protocol to UNEP's Convention on Biological Diversity aims at establishing common rules for the transboundary movement of GMOs in order to ensure, on a global scale, the protection of biodiversity and of human health.

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is incorporated into EU legislation through the legal framework governing the use of GMOs within the European Union. The provisions of Directive 2001/18/EC, Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 and Regulation (EC) No 1830/2003 take account specifically of the obligations on importers of GMO products in the EU. These are supplemented by the Regulation (EC) No 1946/2003 on the transboundary movements of genetically modified organisms, as concerns the obligations on exporters of GMOs to third countries.