GENE CO-OPS AND THE BIOTRADE - TRANSLATING GENETIC RESOURCE RIGHTS INTO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

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.