Department of Biosafety | Workshop on Liability and Redress 2026

The Department of Biosafety (Jabatan Biokeselamatan) organised a workshop entitled Bengkel Tanggungan dan Gantirugi serta Implikasi kepada Penyelidikan Bioteknologi Moden 2026 (Workshop on Liability and Redress, and Implications on Modern Biotechnology Research 2026). The workshop was held on 30 April 2026 at the Sama-Sama Hotel, KLIA Sepang. 

The workshop was held to discuss the issue of liability and redress relating to the usage of living modified organisms (LMO) and its related products, specifically under the Biosafety Act 2007. Additionally, the workshop also shed light on the implementation of Malaysian laws relating to environmental harm and damages. 

Dato’ Dr. Gurdial Singh Nijar gave an introduction of the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, while Dr. Salahudin bin Dato’ Hidayat Shariff (Legal Adviser, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability) discussed liability and redress from the perspective of present Malaysian legislation under his ministry’s purview.

Jia Yaw’s session, entitled “Institutional Readiness for Liability and Redress”, cast a broad look across the myriad cases that may arise, how to address the harms, and how to learn from them, who are the actors who shape outcomes for liability and address, and what institutional readiness for liability and readiness might look like. Jia Yaw implored participants to explore what is required by agencies and institutions to prepare for the actual implementation of liability and providing redress. He stressed that a successful, purposive approach must be built on foundational principles: guaranteeing access to information, access to justice, affirming the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and strictly adhering to business and human rights standards.

See the Department of Biosafety’s Facebook post about the workshop: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18m3Ys4oyB/