BIODIVERSITY MEETING BALANCES SCIENTIFIC, POLITICAL GOALS

Negotiators at the 10th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) held from 7-11 February in Bangkok, Thailand, struggled to keep high-priority technical decisions on biological diversity at the top of an agenda threatened by political manoeuvring. So-called "terminator technologies", known also as genetic use restriction technologies (GURTS, i.e. technologies that can be used to genetically alter seeds to be sterile and thus prevent reuse), along with perverse incentives with potentially negative impacts on biodiversity dominated the agenda of meeting.

"Terminator technologies" controversial

Negotiators considered a report from the CBD's Ad-hoc Technical Expert Group on GURTS. Delegates squared off in heated discussions between the proponents -- led by Canada -- and opponents -- including several African countries, Austria, Switzerland, Peru and the Philippines - for repealing the 1998 CBD's moratorium on GURTS. Advocates argued that adverse environmental and social effects of the technology had not yet been confirmed and should be subject to strict risk assessments. For their part, critics warned that GURTS could compromise the ability of farmers and indigenous peoples to reuse their seeds, and raised concerns over impacts on agricultural biodiversity and the possibility of "terminator genes" being transferred to wild plants.

While retaining the moratorium for the time being, SBSTTA was unable to reach consensus on the report despite two days and nights of discussion, opting instead for transmitting the controversial document to the CBD's Conference of the Parties (COP) and to the CBD's Working Group on Article 8(j) (traditional knowledge). The final recommendation that was adopted by the plenary includes reiterates the need for a precautionary approach cited in Decision V/5 which established the moratorium. In response to concerns over potential socio-economic impacts, the recommendation encourages Parties and others to respect traditional knowledge and farmers' right to the preservation of seeds under traditional cultivation. The recommendation also encourages the continuation of further research on the potential environmental, socio-economic, and cultural impacts of GURTS.

The commercialisation of GURTS is opposed by many in both developed and developing countries, who regard the technology as 'immoral' and say it compromises the ability of farmers and indigenous people to save seeds and remain independent of seed corporations. Advocates of the technology say that it can be used to prevent gene flow from genetically modified to non-modified crops and wild species given that the seed will not grow a second time. Also, GURTS can be used to turn "on" and "off" desired genetic traits.

Ways and means to eliminate 'perverse incentives'

Discussions on perverse incentives focused on a paper regarding "Proposals for the Application of Ways and Means to Remove or Mitigate Perverse Incentives", which is based on a 2003 CBD Secretariat document that has since bounced between the SBSTTA and the CBD COP (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 20 February 2004). Originally intended to assist countries to remove perverse incentives on a voluntary basis, such as land-use policies that encourage wetland 'reclamation', the item has been taken over by a political agenda that equates the term 'perverse incentives' with 'agricultural subsidies'.

Argentina and New Zealand, generally supported by one or more of Australia, South Africa, and/or Brazil, viewed this item as an opportunity to get other countries to change their agricultural subsidies program, to the dismay of the Europeans. A contact group was formed to discuss the definition of perverse incentives, but quickly got bogged down in differences over the meaning of the term "practices which generate perverse incentives". Some said that the policies that result in biodiversity loss should be the focus rather than the practices. In the end, these terms remained bracketed (i.e. undecided) in the draft document. The heavily bracketed document was forwarded to the COP, which will decide on a path forward.

The next meeting of the SBSTTA will be held 5-9 December 2005 in Montreal, Canada, and the 8th COP of the CBD will be held in early 2006 in Brazil.

Additional Resources

More information on the SBSTTA meeting is available here.

ICTSD Reporting; ENB, Vol. 9 No. 306, 14 February 2005; "Canadian Government to Unleash Terminator Bombshell at UN Meeting," ETC GROUP, 7 February 2005.