1. ¹is a graduate of Aalborg University where she recently completed her master's thesis on the obstacles to implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and received her MA degree in development and international relations. Research for this paper was carried out while working as an intern for the Regional Unit for Social and Human Sciences at UNESCO, Bangkok.
2. ²is Regional Advisor on Social and Human Sciences in Asia and the Pacific, in RUSHSAP, UNESCO Bangkok, Thailand. He is also an Affiliated Professor in Bioethics at United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies; and Director, Eubios Ethics Institute, Japan, New Zealand and Thailand.

Correspondence: Frankie Keller, MA c/o RUSHSAP, UNESCO Bangkok, 920 Sukhumwit Road, Prakanong, Bangkok, Thailand, 10110, E-mail: frankie.keller@gmail.com

Received 23 May 2006.

Abstract

The international community has responded to the call for increased management of biotechnology which may harm the environment through participation in multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). Some of these agreements contain specific provisions which are at the heart of the foundation, both implicitly and explicitly, for international regulation of biotechnology. The implications of these agreements for biotechnology research are discussed. The membership of countries in the Asia and Pacific region to specific MEAs is discussed in the context of selected economic, political, geographical and agricultural indicators.