This is why, as regards biotechnologies, their development and
applications, especially where human and nature are concerned, the Assembly
recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
6.1 ask the relevant steering committees to adopt the precautionary
principle as a common tenet of decision-making, once its scope has been clearly
defined. The Assembly welcomes in this context the agreement reached on 29
January 2000 in Montreal on an international protocol (the Cartagena Protocol
on Biosafety) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Biological
Diversity, regulating trade in genetically modified organisms by including the
application of the precautionary principle, but regrets that the decisions made
regarding traceability and labelling were not more binding;
6.2 continue to broaden its activities in the field of bioethics, as envisaged in
Recommendation 1213 (1993) on developments in biotechnology and the consequences for agriculture. Due account should be taken of the findings of the Council of Europe's international conference on the ethical issues arising from the application of biotechnology (Oviedo, Spain, 16-19 May 1999), covering in particular the problems concerning the patentability of living matter and of
Recommendation 1425 (1999) on biotechnology and intellectual property;
6.3 ask the Steering Committee on Bioethics (CDBI) to prepare, in
co-operation with other relevant organisations, for the introduction of an
assessment method for ascertaining whether new technologies in medicine and
biology are compatible with fundamental ethical principles, human rights and
human dignity. This should take into account the decision-making procedures of
individual countries and relevant international organisations as well as the
different cultural, religious or social traditions or conventions in the member
states. Such a method will entail the introduction of a bioethical labelling
procedure based, as a minimum, on the shared principles of
non-commercialisation of the human body, individual consent and legitimate use
for purposes of human health;
6.4 convene a group of experts to elaborate, by involving a citizens'
forum, the scope and provisions of a future convention on the use of living
matter. This would be with the aim of drawing up an international convention on
a worldwide basis, under the auspices of organisations which are able to assume
the responsibilities that go along with overseeing such a
convention;
6.5 involve all the partners concerned in co-operation to that end,
including the Parliamentary Assembly;
6.6 invite the national ethics committees to participate fully in these
activities;
6.7 call on the member states of the European Union to request the renegotiation of
Directive 98/44/EC of the European Parliament and Council of 6 July 1998 on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions, in particular Article 5, paragraph 2 thereof. The time thus gained, with immediate effect, would permit the necessary public discussion and the finding of an appropriate solution in conformity with the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the application of Biology and Medicine: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (European Treaty Series No. 164). In this connection, those member governments which have already brought appeals against
Directive 98/44/EC before the Court of Justice of the European Communities should be supported.
