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Convention issues guidelines to prevent biopiracy
Judith King HIVAN Media Team
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At a global environmental conference held in The Hague, Netherlands, during April 2002, environmental ministers from over 160 countries formulated a set of guidelines designed to encourage multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to pay indigenous communities for genetic resources used in the production of medicines and cosmetics.
Termed "biopiracy" by environmental activist groups such as Greenpeace, the practice of big business exploiting the natural resources of communities in developing countries, without any form of compensation or sustainable development strategies for local communities, has long been a contentious issue.
The Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the global guidelines in recognition of the World Health Organisation's findings that extracts from approximately 250 000 medicinal plant species throughout the world are used by drug companies for research and product development, patented and sold for billions, mainly in developed countries. Ironically, communities in the developing world are those most in need of equitable access to medication to fight diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
"The guidelines on genetic resources promise to improve the way foreign companies ... gain access to resources in return for sharing the benefits with the countries of origin and with local communities," the Convention's report says.
Although Greenpeace acknowledges the attempt by the Convention to prevent biopiracy, it believes that "...any agreement to stop biopiracy will be insufficient if the resources to be shared are disappearing."
Given that access to pharmaceutical treatment and the threat of environmental degradation are both cross-cutting issues in terms of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in developing countries, Greenpeace's statement highlights the urgent need not only for global economic justice and fair trade in indigenous plant materials, but also for sustainable development. These issues will, no doubt, be highly profiled at the upcoming Earth Summit to be held in Johannesburg, South AFrica, during September this year.
For the full press release issued by the Convention on Biological Diversity, as well as useful links and related information, click on the hyperlink alongside this article.
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