05/11/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/10/2021 12:33 Biosafety: Ensuring the Safe Use of Modern Biotechnologies Radically shifting global biodiversity governance to fit the needs and expectations of biodiversity-rich developing countries, the CBD covers not only matters related to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, but also social and economic aspects. Developing countries insisted the Convention should address issues related to biotechnology, including its safe use and distribution of its benefits, as well as access to genetic resources-the raw material for biotechnological innovation. When the CBD negotiations began in 1987, the role and potential value of genetic resources was increasingly obvious. The rise of intellectual property rights in the 1980s, especially patents and plant breeders' rights, had already sparked debate on the legal status of plant genetic resources under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) (Tsioumani, 2020). Some developed countries, such as Canada and the US, had already adopted national biotechnology regulations (Garforth et al., 2013).