Wv. Reid, GENE CO-OPS AND THE BIOTRADE - TRANSLATING GENETIC RESOURCE RIGHTS INTO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, Journal of ethnopharmacology, 51(1-3), 1996, pp. 75-92
The 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity marks a basic change in th
e international status of genetic resources. Prior to the Convention,
these resources were considered to be the 'heritage of mankind.' Altho
ugh the intent of this open access regime was to ensure the widespread
availability of genetic resources for agriculture and industry, comme
rcial use of the resources provided no additional economic incentive f
or conservation by source countries. The Biodiversity Convention corre
cts this policy failure by establishing that states have sovereign rig
hts over their genetic resources, thereby enabling market incentives t
o complement various multilateral mechanisms that might directly fund
biodiversity conservation. A number of obstacles face countries that a
re translating this broad right to regulate access into specific polic
ies, laws, and regulations designed to meet conservation and developme
nt objectives. A review of these obstacles and of trends in technologi
cal development suggest that nations and developing country institutio
ns should take a set of actions to develop access legislation and Mate
rial Transfer Agreements, establish biodiversity 'cooperatives' and in
termediary institutions to facilitate information exchange, develop mi
nimum standards for access legislation, and require that prior informe
d consent of local communities be obtained by all biodiversity collect
ors.