| inbluevt | Date: Thursday, 2013/09/19, 7:26 PM | Message # 1 | DMCA |
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The European Parliament has agreed to rules that would prevent EU companies, particularly in the pharmaceuticals sector, from exploiting the natural resources of the world's indigenous communities by recognising their 'intellectual property rights' over local biodiversity.
In the vote yesterday (12 September), MEPs rubber-stamped the next stage of the EU's ratification of the Nagoya protocol, a UN convention on biodiversity signed by leaders in the Japanese city in 2010.
The convention regulates the protection of biodiversity by setting limits on the amount of a genetic resource, such as plant or animal material, that companies can exploit to make their products.
The rules also confer ownership of the resources to the indigenous communities where they are found and 'intellectual property rights' to traditional knowledge associated with them.
"This legislation is a real step forward. It reinforces the sharing of benefits, offers better traceability along the user chain from research to marketing, and sets up a mechanism against biopiracy," said French Green MEP Sandrine Bélier, who led the proposal through Parliament.
Bélier had previously told EurActiv that she hoped that the legislation would pass at the first parliamentary reading. Yesterday she warned of attempts to dilute the rules.
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An "Enola", a yellow bean which has been at the centre of patent controversy for over a decade. Photo: Neil Palmer/CIAT
Message edited by inbluevt - Thursday, 2013/09/19, 7:32 PM |
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