In accordance with the precautionary approach contained in Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the objective of Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is to contribute to ensuring an adequate level of protection in the field of the safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health, and specifically focusing on transboundary movements.

A Biosafety Clearing-House is established as part of the clearing-house mechanism in order to:

• Facilitate the exchange of scientific, technical, environmental and legal information on, and experience with, living modified organisms; and
• Assist Parties to implement the Protocol, taking into account the special needs of developing country Parties, in particular the least developed and small island developing States among them, and countries with economies in transition as well as countries that are centres of origin and centres of genetic diversity.

The Biosafety Clearing-House serves as a means through which information is made available for the above purpose. It provides access to information made available by the Parties relevant to the implementation of the Protocol. It shall also provide access, where possible, to other international biosafety information exchange mechanisms.

Sri Lanka being a party to the Protocol also established a Biosafety Clearing-House for the above purpose.