BANGKOK, Thailand, Feb. 15--PRNewswire-AsiaNet/InfoQuest
Today the Australian APEC Study Centre released a report showing how
proposals for a patent-based regime to regulate access to genetic resources
could inhibit efforts to protect biodiversity and undermine health in
developing countries.
The study was released during a meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity's Working Group on Access and Benefit Sharing of bio-resources in Bangkok, Thailand. The Group is negotiating an international regime on access to genetic resources.
"We all agree that preserving the world's biodiversity is an important
goal," said Ambassador Alan Oxley, chairman of the APEC Study Centre --
Australia, and author of the study, Developing Effective Approaches to Access
to Genetic Resources. "But if we get this wrong, it could be a lose-lose
result."
"Some 'mega-diverse' countries (countries with large biodiversities) had
proposed placing conditions on patents on things developed from genetic
resources as a tool for protecting biodiversity," said Oxley. "The general
idea is to require approval for each use of a product based on a patent after
the patent was issued."
"Some countries believe this would control biopiracy (theft of genetic
resources) and generate opportunities to secure payments to pass on to
indigenous communities," he added.
"This was not the most effective way to solving these problems," said
Oxley. "The study showed that the best way to control biopiracy is to set up a
system of contracts where bioprospectors paid for the right to search and
collect genetic resources, and to enforce it."
"The best way to ensure benefits go to local people is to get the right
prices through competitive bidding for licences to bioprospect and ensure
payments get to local communities," he went on.
"This system generates income, which can be used to improve protection of biodiversity," Oxley pointed out.
Oxley said the idea of restricting patents would be less effective and
have unintended consequences. He said it would discourage bioprospecting,
thereby reducing income from fees.
"Restricting how patents were used would also discourage investment to
develop new products," said Oxley. "Companies would not invest in research and
development if they did not know if they could use new products based on
patents," he added.
"The result in mega-diverse countries would be less investment in biotech sectors and less capacity-building in local communities. Who wants that
result?" asked Oxley.
Oxley said the report noted that restrictions on patents would also
inhibit development of new medicines of which developing countries were major
beneficiaries. "Life-threatening illnesses like AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis
and cardiovascular disease hit developing countries harder than the First
World," he said.
Before the meeting began in Bangkok, countries which had designated
themselves as the "like-minded mega-diverse countries" (LMMCs), issued a
statement proposing that the new international regime regulate intellectual
property law. They included Bolivia, Brazil, China, Columbia, Costa Rica,
Congo, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaya, Mexico, Peru, The
Philippines, South Africa and Venezuela.
About Ambassador Alan Oxley:
Former Ambassador Alan Oxley, a renowned free-trade expert, is a former
Chairman of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (the predecessor to the
World Trade Organization), Chairman of the Australian APEC Study Centre at
Monash University - Australia and host of TechCentralStation.com Asia-Pacific.
His writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal Asia, The Bangkok Post
and many other publications.
The Australian APEC Study Centre is based at Monash University, Melbourne. It is part of the network of Study Centres established in universities and think tanks throughout the member countries of APEC (the Organization for
economic cooperation in the Asian Pacific region) APEC's 21 members include,
Australia, China, Canada, the ten ASEAN nations, Japan, the United State,
Mexico, Chile and Peru and Russia.
SOURCE Australian APEC Study Centre
CONTACT: Amanda Franks, +1-202-572-6203, or Sam Succop +1-202-572-6275,
both for Australian APEC Study Centre
--Distributed by AsiaNet (www.asianetnews.net)--