At their first meeting (on 21-23 October 2002 in Lucca, Italy), the Parties to the Aarhus Convention (i.e. the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters) established a Working Group on Genetically Modified Organisms. The task of the working group is to explore the options for a legally binding approach to further developing the application of the Convention in the field of GMOs, including through possible instruments and to develop selected options for consideration and possible decision or adoption by the Parties at their second meeting. The first meeting of the working group took place on 9-11 April 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting agenda and relevant documents (in English, French and Russian) are available at http://www.unece.org/env/pp/gmo.htm or contact [email protected] for more information.

02/05/2003