나고야-쿠알라룸푸르 추가의정서의 주요 내용과 향후 입법적 과제

Main Contents and Legislative Issues of Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

On November 2010, the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety was adopted with the purpose of contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health, by providing international rules and procedures in the field of liability and redress relating to living modified organisms. While the original intent of the Supplementary Protocol establish the norms of international civil liability, due to the limit of four years to reach an agreement and difference in opinion among the parties, uniform international norms for burden of proof of causation, other exemptions or mitigations, time limits for claims for damages, and financial security were not achieved and they are being delegated to domestic law. In the case of Republic of Korea, there exists Transboundary Movement, Etc. of Living Modified Organisms Act which regulates living modified organisms. However the main purpose of this act is to control the safety of import and export of living modified organisms and provide necessary regulations to secure safety in domestic development, production, and distribution of living modified organisms, providing no regulation for items relating to liability and redress for damages caused by living modified organisms. Furthermore, there are limitations in providing relief for damages caused by living modified organisms by invoking the principle of contract law or liability with fault according to the Civil Law, principle of liability through individual environmental law such as the Basic Act on Environmental Policies, or the principle of liability according to the Product Liability Act. Therefore, it will be necessary to enact new legislations regarding liability and redress for damages caused by living modified organisms, based on the regulations of the Supplementary Protocol. This article seeks to examine the main contents of the Supplementary Protocol and review the need for domestic legislation and legislative tasks in order to implement the Supplementary Protocol in Korea.