Welcome to The Bahamas Biosafety Website

The Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) is an information exchange mechanism established by the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to assist Parties to implement its provisions and to facilitate sharing of information on, and experience with, living modified organisms (LMOs). It assists Parties and other stakeholders in different ways in the implementation of the Protocol. For example, it provides a “one-stop shop” where users can readily access or contribute relevant biosafety-related information.

The BCH also facilitates scientific and technical cooperation between Parties and other relevant stakeholders, for example by allowing interested stakeholders to access or contribute information on existing biosafety capacity-building activities. For industry and other stakeholders the BCH allows easy access to information vital to their activities, including details of the national contacts, relevant laws and regulations governing LMO activities and the decisions and declarations made by Parties, especially with regard to transboundary movements.

Biosafety Issues for The Bahamas

There are many natural resources that are unique to The Bahamas such as pine forests and mangroves that make an important contribution to the natural biodiversity of the country. These environments have evolved over many thousands of years largely isolated from outside influences resulting in unique habitats that can be found nowhere else. There are species unique to The Bahamas such as the Nassau Grouper and the Abaco Parrot which need to be conserved and protected. While legislation to protect these species from overfishing and poaching does exist, there are no laws to protect these ecosystems from the products of modern biotechnology.

With the quick pace of scientific and technological advancement in the pharmaceutical and agro-food industries, there is an urgent need in The Bahamas, as a country of high biodiversity, to develop a National Strategy with respect to the use and trade of Living Modified Organisms (LMOs) for economic and social benefit as well as part of country obligations under the Cartagena Protocol. By exchanging information through the BCH, The Bahamas hopes to develop a more transparent and holistic approach to the issue of biosafety.