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On 2 May, KRIBB and the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences (NIES) of China agreed to a Memorandum of Understand for mutual cooperation.
Through this agreement, the two sides can lay the foundations for securing bio-safety between the two countries.
As a research institute directly responsible to the Ministry of Environment Protection of China, NIES focuses on national science technology research projects in environmental fields, such as nature and biodiversity protection, responding to the climate change and soil pollution. The ‘Laboratory Focusing on National Environment Bio Safety’ will perform practical cooperation tasks regarding the environment risks of LMO and tasks related to environmental effectiveness evaluations.
At KRIBB, the Korea Biosafety Clearing House, the Bio-Evaluation Center and the LMO Research Safety Center all work in the field of bio-safety. The Korea Biosafety Clearing House has actively joined in the campaign domestically and internationally to maintain liability information, as defined in the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and LMO Law, and provides accurate information about and understands genetically modified organisms through risk communication. The Bio Evaluation Center researches the genetic characteristics of LMOs and the effects on the environment and on the human body. The LMO Bio Safety Research Center supports the safe management of LMOs in the course of research.
Accordingly, the two institutes decided, through a working level consultation immediately following the signing the MOU, to exchange mutual LMO information, push ahead with joint research in order to enhance risk evaluation, and exchange research-related personnel. They also agreed to modify and expand fields that contribute to bio-safety between the two countries, such as the result of awareness investigations, jointly publish books, and manage safety.