By Janet Raloff
Last February, negotiators from more than 130 countries met in Cartagena, Colombia, to thrash out rules of conduct for international trade in genetically engineered organisms. Unsuccessful, they returned home.
Their stalemate persisted through 5 days of resumed negotiations in Montreal last week. Then, at 4:48 a.m. Saturday, the parties agreed to a compromise. This Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety will become a formal treaty 90 days following its ratification by at least 50 nations.