pgr for food and agriculture (pgrfa)

1. Assignment
Subject: GPB811 Plant Genetics Resources andtheir Utilization
Presented by : Mr. Indranil Bhattacharjee
StudentI.D. No.: 17PHGPB102
Sam Higginbottom Universityof Agriculture,
Technology & Sciences
Allahabad-211007
PGR for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA)

2. 1. Overview of presentation
• The issue: Loss and value of biodiversity
• Main focus: Agreed but diverging objectives
– Conventionon BiologicalDiversity (CBD)objectives:
Balanceconservation, access and benefit sharing
– TRIPSand WIPO objective:Stimulateinnovation
– FAO objective:Access to breeding material
• Implementing diverging objectives: Two
theoretical perspectives

3. 2. Relevance
• Protection: Breeders and bioprospectorsneed legal protection
(intellectual property rights)ofgeneticmaterial to assurea fair return
frominvestmentsin geneticimprovement.
• Access: Farmers, breeders and bioprospectorsneed access to genetic
resourcesfor food and medicineproductionand geneticimprovement
• Conservation: Biodiversityis threatened and there is a need for models
of incentives forconservation
• How to balanceprotection & access - and stimulateinnovation and
conservation?

5. 3. Biodiversity: Ecosystems, species, genes
• Loss of biodiversity:
– Loss is 100 times faster than ’natural averagerate’
– Of the 7-60 mill. species world-wide;only 1.9 mill.
scientificallydescribed:Do not know what is being lost
• Increased attention on value of biodiversity:
– U.S. biotechnologygenerates US$ 13 billionyearly
– loss deprivepeopleof ecosystemservicesworth about
US$250billionyearly
– Non-economic: Intrinsicand cultural value
• Rapid loss + High value = Political focus

7. 4. Economic value of genetic diversity
• Agriculture and animal breeding:
– Depend on access to diversityofgeneticmaterial to
retain high yield, adapt to changes and resist diseases
• Medicinal potential: Bioprospecting
– Less than 1 % of all plants, insects,marineand
microbiologicalorganismshas been examined for
chemical traits
– 80% rely on herbal medicines & traditionalknowledge
about theiruse
– OECD: yearly valueof products derivedfromgenetic
resourcesestimatedat 500 - 800 billion US$

9. 5. CBD: International negotiations
• Science and politics: Consensus
• From conservation to equity: Conflict
– 1970s: Ramsar, CMS, CITES. 19902: CBD
• The conflict in the CBD negotiations:
– 1. Main bulk of terrestrial speciesfound in tropical areas
– 2. Geneticresources: Input factors forbiotechnology
– 3. Biotechnologicalinventionsbuildingon traditional
knowledgeand seeds collected fromtropical areas
– 4. Privatisation& patents also withinlife sciences
– 5. Patents hardly applicablein developingcountries:Rosy
periwinkle
– International agreement: Balance access to genetic
resourcesand equitablesharing ofbenefits

11. 6. Establishment of the CBD
• Contents of CBD: Some highlights
– Into force 1993: 188 Parties (- USA and Iraq)
– Three main objectives: 1. Conservation of
biodiversity, 2. sustainable use of biodiversity, 3.
equitable sharing of benefits from use of genetic
resources
– Compromise: National sovereignty to balance free
access and patent protection
– Conservation: Reverse loss by 2010

13. 7. Establishment of the Bonn Guidelines
• CBD Bonn Guidelines (2002):
– Prior informed consent and mutually
agreed terms
– Material Transfer Agreement:
Document conditions
– Participation of all stakeholders (8j)
– Claim for information about access
and country of origin in patent
application
– Certification system for trade in
genetic resources

15. 8. Interaction between multilateral agreements
• FAO: Access to breeding material (seeds)
– 1983-89:FromCommon Heritageof Mankind to
patents
– 2001: Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources
• CBD: Conservation, access, benefit
sharing
– 1992: CBD. 2002: Bonn Guidelines.
• WTO/TRIPS and WIPO: Stimulate
innovation
– TradeRelated Aspects of IntellectualProperty
Rights
– 2005: WIPO: Draft SubstantivePatent Law Treaty
• Internationally agreed - but diverging -
objectives

17. 9. Disruptive effects of interaction
• Some views on disruptive effects:
– IRP vs conservation: IPR systems may indirectly weaken
indigenous and local groups in their efforts to achieve
bilateralagreements on bioprospecting
– IPR vs equity: IPR hardly providesincentivesfor
conservation
– Access vs conservation: Excessiveharvestingmay result once
a promisingsamplehas been made; but
– incentives forconservationare also likely to be small if end
products arederived from syntheticprocesses
• Challenge:
– Developcompatiblepoliciesand institutionsin countries
providingand countriesusing geneticresources

18. 10. Analytical approaches to implementation
• The realist view predicts: Power decides
– Interest maximising and structural power relationsbetween states decide
outcomes and implementation
– Industrialised countries dictate bioprospecting deals
• The ideational view predicts: Norms count
– Learning through co-operation in international negotiations
– Spreading of norms through legitimising effect of international regimes
• How do the predictions match empirical findings?

19. 11. Supporting the realist view: ‘Power decides’
• Forum ‘shopping’: From CBD to TRIPS
– WTO/TRIPS:Strong economic sanctions& dispute settlement mechanisms,
powerful states dominate
– ‘TRIPSplus’: Bilateral tradeagreements
– WIPO: Substantive Patent Law Treaty: World patent?
• Weak bilateral negotiation power in ‘South’:
– Lack of administrativecapacity
– Geographicaldistribution ofgeneticresources
– Small revenuefrom bioprospecting
– Lack of compatibleABSregulationin user countries
• Unbalanced implementation:
– Everstricterpatent-and access-regulationscreate‘anticommons’and
‘arms race’

20. 12. Supporting the ideational view: Norms and
learning
• ‘Green’ legitimacy:
– Privatesectorusers seek legitimacy in geneticresources
transactions(Kew, Biotics)
• Learning:
– International fora: Spread of norms on ABS
– UNESCO: Traditional knowledge and intellectual property-
developing model provisions on the protection of folklore
– UNCTAD: The Biotrade Initiative
– WIPO: Protection of traditional knowledge
– WSSD 2002: WTO rules not to override environmental treaties
– National implementation:Follow Bonn Guidelines
• Conclusion: Scope for reconciliation or ‘theory
determines findings’?

21. 13. Prospects for conservation
• Conflict over IPR and ABS take central stage?
• IPR and ABS have stronger stakeholders than
conservation
• CSR and private partnerships: Fragmented
responsibility?
• Few signs of success for 2010 goal,
• But getting developing countries on board
through ABS is prerequisite for conservation,
access and innovation

22. Acronyms
• CBD: Convention on Biological Diversity
• IPR: Intellectual Property Rights
• ABS: Access and Benefit Sharing
• FAO: Food and Agricultural Organization
• TRIPS: Trade-relater Aspects of intellectual Property Rights
• WTO: World Trade Organization
• WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organization
• CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility
• WSSD: World Summit on Sustainable Development (UN Conference,
Johannesburg 2002)