Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 7 • Number 19 • 2nd November 2007

LDC Group Supports Biodiversity Amendment in WTO Council on Intellectual Property

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At a recent meeting on intellectual property at the WTO, the group of least-developed countries come out in support of a proposal to amend TRIPS rules to require patent applicants to disclose the origin of genetic resources or traditional knowledge used in their inventions.

At the WTO Council for Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) from 23-24 October, the 32 LDC Members of the WTO officially announced support for the biodiversity-related TRIPS amendment proposed by a group of several developing countries including Brazil, China, Ecuador, India, and South Africa (see Bridges Weekly, 13 June 2007, http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/07-06-13/story4.htm). The proposal also has the support of the African Group.

This potential addition to multilateral trade rules has been championed by Peru, one of the most vocal critics of the misappropriation of biological resources and traditional knowledge through patents (”bio-piracy”) without adequate recompense. The Peruvian delegation presented to the TRIPS Council a document on the country’s experience with ‘bad’ patents - those that failed to involve proof of consent or benefit sharing. The delegation reiterated that a formal TRIPS amendment was necessary to combat bio-piracy. It stated that “the patent system works only if the rights of those who made the invention possible are acknowledged… there is an urgent need to rethink the patent system and to consider how to make it more balanced.”

Brazil, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Tanzania and other developing country backers of the proposed new TRIPS article (’29bis’) expressed support for Peru’s statements. They insist that such requirements — with penalties including patent revocation — are necessary to support patent-related obligations arising from the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

The US and Japan are sceptical of - or outright opposed to — claims that a mandatory disclosure requirement in the TRIPS Agreement is necessary. They argue that bio-piracy could be addressed by other means.

Due to this lack of agreement, Members are set to continue discussions of the issue at the next TRIPS Council, which is tentatively scheduled for February 2008.

For a full report on the WTO TRIPS Council, see Bridges Weekly at http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/07-10-31/story2.htm

ICTSD reporting.