Biodiversity

assessment, a country candecide whether or not toimport the LMO.Under the second procedure,countries that approveLMOs-FFP for domesticuse and placement on themarket must inform othercountries and providerelevant informationthrough a centralinformation exchangemechanism known as theBiosafety Clearing‐House(BCH). If a country decidesto import an LMO that isto be released into theenvironment, it mustcommunicate its decisionand a summary of the riskassessment to the BCH.Countries must also makesure that LMOs shipped fromThe first commercially grown LMO, a tomato modified to resist rotting, was introduced in 1994.©FAO/Olivier Thuillierone country into another aresafely handled, transportedand packaged. Shipments ofLMOs must be accompaniedby documents that clearlyspecify their identity andany requirements for theirsafe handling, storage,transport and use.If you’re interested inbiosafety issues, you canencourage your governmentto become a Party to theProtocol if it is not already,inform others aboutbiosafety issues, discusspossible public educationalactivities on biosafetywith your teachers, designawareness material onbiosafety to use in yourcommunity, or create ayouth biosafety network toexchange information.the Youth guide to biodiversity123