GURTs: No Case for Field Trials

No peer-reviewed scientific data has been published on GURTs since 2000 that would alter the assessment and implications of CBD decision V/5-III, recommending that field trials not take place before ”appropriate scientific data can justify such testing”. In particular, there is an absence of:

• Evidence that the components of GURTs (individually and in combination) perform with the degree of reliability and accuracy required for a stable and reliable GURT;
• Evidence concerning impacts on the environment, biodiversity, and human health;
• Evidence that v-GURTs applications to be used for bio-confinement will not allow gene flow to occur, via seed or pollen.

Unless reliable data from greenhouse trials, published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, can show the existence of a complete GURT and its reliable and stable performance, and address outstanding issues, there is no reason for Parties to the CBD to consider field trials or case-by-case risk assessment.