[Pirateninfo] BRIDGES Trade BioRes, Vol. 3 No.11

[Martin Sundermann]

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BRIDGES Trade BioRes, Vol. 3 No.11     13 June, 2003 
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Intellectual Property Rights 
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CBD-TRIPS DISCUSSION PICKING UP SPEED AT THE WTO 

Meeting on 4-5 June and again briefly on 6 June, the WTO Council for Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) received a number of proposals related to biodiversity and traditional knowledge. Momentum is again building on discussions at the WTO on these issues, which developing countries are hoping to address as part of the current round of trade negotiations.

The TRIPS Council received three new submissions related to the review of Article 27.3(b) (patentability of life forms), traditional knowledge (TK) and biodiversity from Switzerland (IP/C/W/400, available at http://docsonline.wto.org/), the African Group (IP/C/W/404, available at http://www.ictsd.org/iprsonline/ictsd/docs/article273b_AfricanGroup_4June2003.pdf) and India on behalf of Brazil, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Thailand, Peru and Venezuela (IP/C/W/403, available at http://www.ictsd.org/iprsonline/ictsd/docs/wto_IPCW403.pdf). 

The Swiss submission proposes an amendment to the World Intellectual Property Organisation's (WIPO's) Patent Cooperation Treaty that would enable countries to require patent applicants to declare the source of the genetic resources and TK in patent applications. Switzerland also reiterated the "crucial importance" of databases to protect TK. On the CBD-TRIPs relationship, Switzerland noted that both "can and should" be implemented without conflict and that there was no need to modify the provisions of either.

In contrast to the Swiss proposal, both the African Group's and the India-led submissions stress the need for a multilateral solution to these issues in the TRIPs Council, while also noting that any efforts in the WTO would not preclude work on these issues in other forums.  They highlight the limited progress that has so far been made in WIPO's Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore, and note the limitations of national laws and contracts to prevent biopiracy at the international level. 

The India-led proposal reiterates the countries' proposal for amending the TRIPs Agreement to require patent applicants to disclose the source of origin of the biological resource and associated TK, and evidence of prior informed consent and benefit-sharing (BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 11 July 2002, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/02-07-11/story1.htm). The submission also addresses a number of arguments against the proposal put forward by the US. By reiterating their proposal, the countries aim to ensure that this item remains on the agenda and that the proposal will be discussed and adopted as part of the Doha round of trade negotiations.

Similarly, the African Group notes that "any protection of genetic resources and TK will not be effective until international mechanisms are found and established within the framework of the TRIPs Agreement", and describes other means such as access contracts and databases as merely "supplementary". The African submission, however, goes considerably further in its scope than the India-led proposal by calling for Article 27.3(b) to be revised so as to prohibit patenting of plants, animals and micro-organisms. On traditional knowledge, the Group proposes to classify TK as a category of intellectual property rights and puts forward a draft Decision on TK for adoption by the TRIPs Council.

At the meeting, the EC noted that the Swiss proposal further developed many of the EC's own ideas, though the EC did not specify whether the issue should be addressed in the WTO or in WIPO. The EC again signalled its willingness to discuss mandatory disclosure of origin requirements (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 26 September 2002, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/02-09-26/story1.htm). The EC, however, rejected the African Group's call for a ban on patenting of life forms. While acknowledging that the Swiss proposal showed willingness to engage in discussions, one developing country trade source believed that restricting the debate to WIPO was not satisfactory as it would not oblige countries to address biopiracy through intellectual property rights.

For an update on other discussions at the TRIPs Council, including on TRIPs & health and special & differential treatment, see BRIDGES Weekly, 12 June 2003, http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/03-06-12/story2.htm. 

ICTSD reporting. 

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Agriculture 
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AGRICULTURE UPDATE: SPECIAL SAFEGUARD MECHANISM DISCUSSED, CAP REFORM HITS HURDLES 

On 27 May, Members of the WTO Committee on Agriculture (CoA) met for technical consultations on a possible new special safeguard mechanism for developing countries. Reportedly, discussions were comprehensive, but only little progress was made on the form and scope of such a new instrument. Interestingly, the US was said to have -- in contrast to its usual reactions -- shown general sympathy towards the idea of creating a new safeguard mechanism solely open to developing countries. Nevertheless, US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick recently stated at the US Congress Agriculture Committee that the US could only accept a new safeguard that would not be accessible to certain developing country Members, such as exporters of a specific commodity or countries with per capita incomes beyond a certain benchmark. "I can't do the same thing for Brazil, which is an exporter," Zoellick reportedly told US Congress, referring to concessions the US might to grant net food importing countries in the Caribbean.

According to trade sources, the CoA continued technical consultations from 4-6 June on subjects such as tariff reduction formulas, trade preferences, treatment of vulnerable groups, and non-trade concerns (NTCs).

EU announces advanced farm offer for Cancun - CAP reform talks postponed 

During the 1-3 June G-8 summit held in Evian, France, both French President Jacques Chirac and Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, announced that the EU would be equipped with a new negotiating mandate providing the European Commission with greater 

leeway at the forthcoming high-level negotiations at the WTO Ministerial Conference from 10-14 September in Cancun, Mexico. Such an extended mandate would greatly depend on EU member states being able to agree on a reform package for the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) along the lines of a proposal by EU Agriculture Commissioner Fischler. However, Fischler's proposal to "decouple" CAP subsidies from production [to make them eligible for the Green Box under which Members can subsidise without any reduction commitments] is still heavily opposed by EU member state such as France, Spain and Ireland. Nevertheless, several observers of the CAP mid-term negotiations indicated that there seemed to be some movement in the French position, and France could be willing to accept at least a partial decoupling of trade distorting EU farm support. "There's a clear consensus emerging, we will get some form of decoupling," an EU official said. He further added that, officially, the French had not yet altered their position on decoupling, but "it looks like the Irish may be moving," he said. 

However, on 13 June negotiations on the CAP reform collapsed and EU farm ministers decided to postpone and reconvene on 17 June in the hope to able to agree on a deal at that time instead. The collapse of negotiations was triggered by France and Germany. France rejected the first compromise proposal tabled by the Greek presidency and a bilateral deal between Germany and France triggered the anger of the other negotiators as it became public that Germany had agreed to back-up the position of France and reject the compromise deal. The Commission and the Greek Presidency are now counting on another compromise deal, which will be presented on 17 June. Otherwise the issue would be transferred to EU heads of state.

ICTSD reporting; "EU trashes out farm reform, French take to streets," 
REUTERS, 26 May 2003; "Global trade discussions may get a kick-start," 
DOW JONES, 27 May 2003; "G-8 Summit: developing countries demand better 
deal on trade; new EU farm offer said coming," WTO REPORTER, 3 June 203. 
"CAP reform talks postponed" EurActiv, 13 June 2003. 

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In Brief 
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NEW BIOTRADE PROJECT LAUNCHED IN BOLIVIA 

A National Sustainable Biotrade Programme (PNBS) was launched in Bolivia on 11 June with the aim of helping to reduce poverty and fostering sustainable development. The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Biotrade Initiative -- which seeks to enhance the ability of developing countries to produce value-added products and services derived from biodiversity for both domestic and international markets -- is the sponsoring agency. Switzerland and the Netherlands will make financial contributions.  Bolivia, a member of the group of "megadiverse" countries that together contain some 70 percent of the world's biodiversity, possesses a great deal of natural wealth, while poverty levels are high. The PNBS seeks to promote income generation and the fair distribution of the benefits through the sustainable use of biodiversity. Its objective is to stimulate production of and trade in biodiversity goods, according to ecological, social and economic sustainability criteria. The programme contains five elements, including the development of standards for promoting the sustainable management of biodiversity and training in biotrade for the various national stakeholders. Other projects will complement the Bolivia Programme. These include the UNCTAD/ICC Biotrade Facilitation Programme and the Andean Biotrade Programme implemented by the Andean Community.

"UNCTAD, Netherlands and Switzerland join together to support the national biotrade project in Bolivia," UNCTAD PRESS RELEASE, 11 June 2003.

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Events & Resources 
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16-18 June, Dhaka, Bangladesh: THIRD REGIONAL SESSION FOR ASIA OF THE GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY FORUM. Organised by the World Conservation Union - IUCN - this forum will address the following four key issues: People and protected areas; sustainable development and livelihoods; access, benefit sharing, and biosafety - relevance to trade and intellectual property rights; and the role of taxonomy in conservation in South Asia. For information: contact Caroline Martinet, tel: +41 22 999 00 01; fax: 999 00 25; e-mail: caroline.martinet at iucn.org; Internet: http://www.gbf.ch. 

23-27 June, Trondheim, Norway: FOURTH TRONDHEIM CONFERENCE ON BIODIVERSITY. The Norway/UN Conference on Technology Transfer and Capacity Building is organised by The Trondheim Conference. For more information contact: The Trondheim Conference, tel: +47 22 24 5700; fax: + 47 73 801401; e-mail: laila.saksgard at nina.no; Internet: http://chm.dirnat.no. 

23-28 June, Rome, Italy: FAO COUNCIL . The 124th Session of the Council is organised by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation. For further information contact Mohammed Rouighi, Director: e-mail: mohammed.rouighi at fao.org, Internet: http://www.fao.org.

24-25 June, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO COMMITTEE ON SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES. For information contact: the WTO Information and Media Relations Division, Geneva; tel: 739-5007; fax: 739-5458; e-mail: enquiries at wto.org.

26 June, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO COMMITTEE ON MARKET ACCESS. For information contact: the WTO Information and Media Relations Division, Geneva; tel: +41 22 739 5007; fax: 739 5458; e-mail: enquiries at wto.org

26-27 June, Rome, Italy: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION. For further information on the 52nd Session of the Executive Committee contact the Secretariat of the joint FAO/WHO Food Standard Programme, tel: +39 (06) 5705 1; fax: +39 (06) 5705 4593; e-mail: codex at fao.org: Internet: http://www.codexalimentarius.net. 

Other Forthcoming Events 

29 June –3 July, Ravello, Italy: 7TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PUBLIC GOODS AND PUBLIC POLICY FOR AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY. Organised by the International Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology Research (ICABR), the conference will focus, inter alia, on the impact of agricultural biotechnology and science; biotechnology, trade and development. For further information contact Vittorio Santaniello, tel: +39 (06) 7259 5843; fax: 7259 5705; e-mail: icabr at economia.uniroma2.it; Internet: http://www.economia.uniroma2.it/conference/icabr2003/Default.htm. 

30 June - 5 July, Rome, Italy: 25TH SESSION OF THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION. For further information contact the Secretariat of the joint FAO/WHO Food Standard Programme, tel: +39 (06) 57051; fax: 5705 4593; e-mail: codex at fao.org: Internet: http://www.codexalimentarius.net

1-4 July, Rome, Italy: AD HOC TECHNICAL EXPERT GROUP ON MOUNTAIN BIODIVERSITY. This meeting is organised by Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. For information contact Hamdallah Zedan, Executive Secretary, tel: +1 514 288 2220; fax: 288 6588; e-mail: secretariat at biodiv.org; Internet: http://www.biodiv.org 

Courses 

16-20 June, Tokyo, Japan. COURSE ON WTO AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. This course, aimed at university professors, is organised by the United Nations University/Institute of Advanced Studies. For further information please contact Prof. A.H. Zakri, Director, tel: +81 3 5467 2323; fax: 5467 2324; e-mail: zakri at ias.unu.edu; Internet: http://www.ias.unu.edu. 




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Resources 
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RESOURCES 

If you have a relevant resource (books, papers, bulletins, etc.) you would like to see announced in this section, please forward a copy or review by the BRIDGES staff to Marianne Jacobsen, mjacobsen at ictsd.ch.

KEEPING SCIENCE OPEN: THE EFFECTS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY POLICY ON THE CONDUCT OF SCIENCE. (Royal Society UK, April 2003) This report considers whether progress in science has been affected by the interpretation and use of intellectual property policies, and makes recommendations for improvement. A copy of the report is available at: http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/templates/statements/StatementDetails.cfm?statementid=221.

STATUS OF THE RIGHTS OF FARMERS AND PLANT BREEDERS IN ASIA. By Ujjwal Kumar and Suman Sahai (Gene Campaign, June 2003). This book compares the salient features of the Plant Variety Protection (PVP) legislation (enacted or proposed) of nine Asian countries -- Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. It also contains three articles that provide a detailed account of the rights of farmers in the Indian PVP law in the context of India's move to join the UPOV Convention. It highlights points to show that joining UPOV is not in the interest of developing countries. For further information, please write to Prabhu Ram at: gc at genecampaign.org or genecamp at vsnl.com.

BIOTECHNOLOGY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: NEEDS AND MODES OF COMPETENCE BUILDING. By the Norwegian Centre for International Environment and Development Studies (Noragric, 2003). This report examines opportunities for building scientific capacity in developing countries around the various applications for biotechnology. With particular reference to Africa the report looks at a range of applications from industrial to small scale agriculture such as food technology, animal and plant disease management, tolerance of stress, and more efficient utilization of resources. A copy of the report is available at: http://www.nlh.no/noragric/publications/reports/NoragricRep14A.pdf.

GM CROPS: GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN. By ActionAid (2003). This paper asks: Do GM crops help eradicate poverty? Do GM crops meet the needs of poor farmers? Do they threaten basic rights? Do GM crops threaten biodiversity? Do GM crops enhance informed choice and participation for poor people? A copy of the paper is available at: http://www.actionaid.org/resources/pdfs/gatg.pdf. 

Electronic Resources 

PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE WEBSITE. This website, launched by IUCN, TRAFFIC, Fauna & Flora International and ResourceAfrica, seeks to provide a focal point for the variety of ongoing work around the world on the precautionary principle in natural resource management and biodiversity conservation. It currently provides background on the precautionary principle, and information on the Precautionary Principle Project. The site can be accessed at: http://www.pprinciple.net. 

GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS WEBSITE. Through this website, those interested in learning more about the topics of protection of geographical indications will find information about the use of names that point to a specific geographic place. It provides links to relevant rules in the US, the EU and other countries, and also to regimes of international organisations such as WIPO and WTO. The website can be accessed at: http://www.geographicindications.com.





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BRIDGES Trade BioRes© is published by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), http://www.ictsd.org, in collaboration with IUCN - World Conservation Union, http://www.iucn.org, and IUCN's Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy, CEESP, http://www.iucn.org/themes/ceesp.

This edition of BRIDGES Trade BioRes was edited by Malena Sell msell at ictsd.ch and Marianne Jacobsen mjacobsen at ictsd.ch. Contributors to this issue were Heike Baumüller, Cécile Giraud, Marianne Jacobsen, Malena Sell, Alex Werth. Executive Director is Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz, ictsd at ictsd.ch. ICTSD is an independent, not-for-profit organisation based at: 13, ch. des Anémones, 1219 Geneva, Switzerland, tel: (41-22) 917-8492; fax: 917-8093. Excerpts from BRIDGES Trade BioRes may be used in other publications with appropriate citation. Comments and suggestions are welcomed and should be directed to the Editor or the Director.

BRIDGES Trade BioRes is made possible in 2003 through the generous support of the Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning, and the Environment

(Netherlands) and the Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape (BUWAL). It also benefits from ICTSD's core funders: the Governments of Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden; Christian Aid (UK), the Rockefeller Foundation, MISEREOR, NOVIB (NL), Oxfam (UK) and the Swiss Coalition of Development Organisations (Switzerland).

ISSN 1682-0843 
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