Nations form alliance to fight biopiracy

Nations form alliance to fight biopiracy

Mark Stevenson, Associated Press, Mexico city

China, Brazil, India and 9 other of the world's most
"biodiverse" countries signed an alliance Monday to fight
biopiracy and press for rules protecting their people's rights to
genetic resources found on their land.

The declaration - also signed by representatives of Indonesia,
Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Kenya, Peru, Venezuela and South
Africa - echoed complaints long voiced by Indians and
environmentalists: that wealthy nations are "prospecting" for
species in order to patent or sell them without offering
concessions or benefits for local people.

"Up to now, our nations have not benefited from this great
wealth because there hasn't been an equal sharing between the
nations involved nor with the rural and Indian groups that use
and protect biodiversity," said Mexican Environment Secretary
Victor Lichtinger.

Together, the 12 nations in the alliance - that account for 70
percent of the world's biodiversity - said they would press for
more equal trade rules on patenting and registering products
based on plant and animal resources.

Formed in the resort city of Cancun and formally known as the
Group of Allied Mega-Biodiverse Nations, the alliance pledged to
press their cause at this summer's U.N. World Summit on
Sustainable Development, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa
in August.

Corporations that make medicines from naturally-occurring
plant derivatives, or secure patents on genetic modifications of
those species, have raised fears that the people who first showed
scientists where to find those plants could lose the right to use
them, or any profits from their use.

For example, farmers in Mexico - where corn originated 4,000
years ago - were disturbed to find their plants had been
accidentally contaminated by genetically modified corn.

They were even more outraged to hear that U.S. companies might
want to charge them for use of those strains.

While intellectual property rights and protection for
biodiverse areas are at the heart of the alliance, Mexico's
Environment Secretary said it had no immediate information on
what mechanism the group proposes regarding patents and
compensation.

"The new rules should include, among other things, certifying
the legal possession of biological material, and informed consent
and mutually agreeable terms for transferring it," the countries'
joint statement said.

Both supporters and detractors of bioprospecting claim say the
1992 U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, an international
treaty designed to protect host countries and Indian communities,
is riddled with loopholes and has been poorly implemented. The
United States never ratified the convention.