Piet van der Meer
Biografie
Prof. mr. drs. Piet van der Meer is trained as a biologist and a lawyer at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands, with specialisations in microbiology, ecology, environmental and international law.
From 1986 until 1999, he was in charge of biosafety regulation at the Dutch Ministry for the Environment, heading a team of legal and scientific professionals that drafted, implemented and reviewed the biosafety regulations, including handling of requests for contained use, field trials and placing on the market of genetically modified organisms. During this time, Piet van der Meer was closely involved in the development of the EU regulatory framework for GMOs, and he participated on behalf of the Netherlands in many international fora, such as the OECD, the Council of Europe, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, where he regularly served as chair of negotiations about topics on overlapping areas of science and law. In this period he also provided frequent training on the legal and scientific aspects of biosafety regulations and risk assessment.
From 1999 to 2002, Piet van der Meer managed, upon the request of the 10 EU pre-accession countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the capacity building project “Implementation of National Biosafety Frameworks”, aimed at laying a firm foundation for national biosafety frameworks that are consistent with international and EU obligations.
From 2002 to 2004 he served as programme manager of the UNEP-GEF projects on Implementation of National Biosafety Frameworks, aimed at assisting countries in establishing and implementing workable and transparent national biosafety systems that are consistent with international obligations
Piet van der Meer operates since August 2004 as an independent consultant, providing support to governments and international organisations in the fields of international and national environmental policies and regulations, often with focus on biotechnology regulation. Over the years, he has provided scientific and regulatory support for biotechnology policy and regulation in over 50 countries and to many national and international organisations.
Since 2006, Piet van der Meer teaches Biotechnology Regulation at the Faculties of Sciences and Law of the Ghent University, Belgium, and as of 2014 he also teaches a semester course on Biotechnology Regulation at the Faculty of Science of the Free University of Brussels (VUB).
In addition, Piet van der Meer coordinates at the VUB the Program on Sustainable Food and Biomass Systems .