April 04, 2002

'16'

    Shri Murasoli Maran, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, has called for a "Development Coalition" of bio-diversity rich countries of the world and has proposed that this coalition should work for the development of an internationally agreed instrument which recognises national level systems for the protection of traditional knowledge. This coalition should also provide necessary impetus to the work already under way in various inter-governmental fora in this regard. Inaugurating the 3-day International Seminar on "Systems for Protection of Traditional Knowledge" here last evening, Shri Maran said that need for such an effort was urgent in the context of the mandate given by the Doha Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to the Council of TRIPs (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) regarding the relationship between the Convention on Bio-Diversity (CBD) and the TRIPs Agreement and the protection of traditional knowledge and folklore. These, he emphasised, were some of the most important outstanding implementation issues in the WTO which needed to be resolved. The Minister also indicated that in the Indian Bio-Diversity Bill, which was under consideration of Parliament, provision had been incorporated regarding prior consent of the National Bio-Diversity Authority for access to biological resources from India. The National Bio-Diversity Authority would also ensure benefit-sharing arrangement. Further, provision had also been made in the Patent (Second Amendment) Bill for mandatory disclosure in the patent application of the source of biological resources used in the invention. "These provisions would ensure prevention of bio-piracy in India and sharing of benefits arising out of use of traditional knowledge. However, this will not prevent persons seeking patents on traditional knowledge in other countries and also using traditional knowledge without prior informed consent and benefit sharing. Therefore, the onus of benefit sharing must also be shared by the user country to create an enabling environment and confidence through legislative measures so as to ensure compliance of prior informed consent stipulations and for ensuring equitable sharing of benefits as visualised in the CBD", the Minister said.

    The 3-day (3-5 April) Seminar has been organised jointly by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India and UNCTAD (UN Conference on Trade and Development), in recognition of the need to come together for making efforts to obtain international recognition for national level systems for the protection of traditional knowledge. Shri Dipak Chatterjee, Commerce Secretary; Mr. Pedro Roffe, Adviser to the Secretary General of UNCTAD; Shri S.N. Menon, Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce; and Dr. Veena Jha, representative of UNCTAD were among others who spoke on the occasion. Shri Chatterjee pointed out that almost 80% of the world population depended on traditional knowledge and said that developing countries had provided national level assistance to traditional knowledge in the form of prevention of bio-piracy. He also said that the Doha Declaration provides an opportunity to safeguard the interests of traditional knowledge.

    Mr. Pedro Roffe, in his statement on behalf of UNCTAD, explained why traditional knowledge was an important item in the international development agenda, while recalling the special relationship between the Government of India and UNCTAD which had intensified in recent years particularly with respect to initiatives in areas such as trade & investment and trade & environment. He said the UNCTAD was further exploring ways and means for cooperating with India in activities related to the post-Doha process. "Traditional Knowledge (TK) plays an important role in the global economy. Traditional peoples and communities are responsible for the discovery, development and preservation of a tremendous range of medicinal plants, healthy-giving herbal formulations, and agricultural & forest products that are traded internationally and generate considerable economic value. TK is also used as input into modern industries such as pharmaceuticals, botanical medicines, cosmetics and toiletries, agriculture and biological pesticides. In most cases, virtually all the value added is captured by corporations that can harness advanced scientific, technological and marketing capabilities…… The fact that TK is being so widely disseminated and commercially exploited with such a small proportion of the benefits flowing back to provider peoples and communities raise the question of ownership. Who owns TK according to traditional peoples and communities? And who owns TK according to most national legal systems and the international IPRs regimes?", he asked. He said the Seminar should contribute to the ongoing work on TK related issues by generating new ideas and contribute to the exploration of possible solutions, including the future work in UNCTAD in this important area. Representatives from Brazil, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Egypt, Kenya, China, Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand and Sri Lanka are participating in this Seminar.

    Later, Mr. Francisco Cannabrava, Mr. Johnson A Ekpere and Mr. Rene Vossenaar, Experts on IPR issues, along with Mr. Pedro Roffe called on Shri Maran and had discussions with him on IPR-related issues, especially in the context of traditional knowledge.