Duties of the project manager under the Genetic Engineering Emergency Regulation?

The Genetic Engineering Emergency Ordinance does not directly impose any obligations on the project manager. This is not surprising, as it is primarily directed at the competent authority. This authority must prepare an external emergency plan based on the documentation to be provided by the operator before the start of genetic engineering work at safety level 3 or 4 (Section 3 (1) Sentence 1 GenTNotfV). Furthermore, it must inform other affected authorities about the external emergency plan (Section 4 GenTNotfV). Only if an accident actually occurs does Section 5 GenTNotfV stipulate that the operator must immediately notify the competent authority – in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Düsseldorf District Government (Section 4.2 of Part B of the ZustVU) – and provide the circumstances of the accident, the identity and quantity of the escaped genetically modified organisms, all other information necessary for assessing the effects of the accident, and the measures taken. This obligation, too, initially falls solely on the operator of the facility. However, due to the proximity of the task to the project manager, the latter may delegate the reporting obligation to the project manager within the organization of the tasks within a facility. Only in such a case would the project manager be required to report to the responsible authority. However, this is ultimately a matter of internal organizational structure, which can vary considerably. Further details may be contractually regulated or arise from operating instructions.

This publication can also be found on the website of the law firm Dr. Kauch .