In Brief

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES PROPOSE DISCLOSURE AT WIPO PATENT MEETING

A group of developing countries proposed at a 10-12 April informal meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP) that the SCP should take into account disclosure of origin of genetic resources and other biodiversity-related issues when considering harmonising global patent laws. The SCP was meeting to prepare its work programme, which would include a Substantive Patent Law Treaty (SPLT) that aims to standardize and harmonise the patent rules used around the world. In perhaps the most new and interesting part of the discussions, on 10 April India proposed that the SCP hold joint meetings with the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC), a committee whose work on genetic resources is supported by developing countries. Similarly, the "Friends of Development" on 11 April said they would like the SCP harmonisation to include disclosure of origin, prior informed consent (PIC) and benefit-sharing, exclusions from patentability (eg. for life forms like plants and animals) and effective mechanisms to challenge the validity of patents. Disclosure, PIC, benefit-sharing and patent challenges have been discussed in the context of the relationship between the WTO Agreement on Trade-related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in the TRIPS Council (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 17 March 2006), and in the context of an international regime on access and benefit sharing at the CBD (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 17 March 2006). Provisions in the SPLT that clarified what types of living organisms are excluded from patentability could have substantial effects on biotechnology research and crops, along with the intellectual property protection required for plant varieties. However, the US and Japan disagreed that these issues should be on the SCP agenda, saying that instead the focus should be on definition of prior art, grace period, novelty and inventive step. The SCP was unable to agree on its work meeting, leading to the cancellation of the committee's meeting scheduled for later this year.

ICTSD Reporting; "India Proposes Combined WIPO Meetings On Biodiversity, Patent Harmonisation," IP WATCH, 10 April 2006; "Disclosure Of Origin A Hot Topic In WIPO Patent Harmonisation Debate," IP WATCH, 11 April 2006.

DESERTIFICATION CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS TRADE IMPACTS

Trade liberalisation can adversely impact on the ability of communities dependent on drylands to practice sustainable land management, participants heard at a 11-12 April international conference entitled "Desertification, hunger and poverty". The conference was organised by the Graduate Institute of Development Studies and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and included over a hundred participants, many of which were from developing countries and especially Africa. In a session on risks and potentials of agricultural development in the drylands, Marc Paquin of Unisfera suggested that unless mitigating measures are adopted, agricultural liberalisation can provide an incentive for the expansion of unsustainable monocropping through large-scale, privately owned agriculture (see also Bridges Trade BioRes, 13 May 2005). Such practices, he said, degrade the land, marginalise dryland-dependent people and prevent them from safeguarding the soil diversity on which their future food security depends. However, Barry Shapiro from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) suggested that when joined up with scientific expertise, technical assistance and sustained efforts, exports of foods from drylands can increase the incomes of communities affected by drought and desertification and restore the diversity and extent of plant cover.

Participants in the sessions noted that there is a need for political will and funding to promote sustainable land management and the implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Focusing largely on Africa and the Sahel region, one participant suggested that "trade goes hand-in-hand with debt" insofar as lower prices for exports of commodities has limited governments' ability to shake off their debt burdens and, as a result, their ability to allocate adequate resources to addressing land degradation. Such degradation, participants said, is "the environmental concern of the poor" because it hinders peoples' abilities to feed themselves in some of the least developed areas of the world. Approximately two thirds of the 900 million people that live in extreme poverty in rural areas live in drylands at risk of desertification, they noted, and global markets for the handicrafts, ropes and other products from these areas should be enhanced. Negotiations on lowering barriers to trade in goods and services that are environment-friendly are currently underway at the WTO (see related story, this issue), but no one has yet proposed to include goods produced in drylands.

ICTSD Reporting.

EU BIOTECH DEBATE BREAKS OUT INTO THE OPEN

The EU procedures for risk assessment and approval of biotech products were the subject of intense scrutiny at a meeting of the EU Executive Council in Brussels on 12 April. An internal paper tabled by EU Environment Minister Stavros Dimas and Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou contained specific recommendations on changes to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) that aimed to restore the confidence of EU-25 governments on approvals of biotech products. Under the changes proposed by the Commission, the EFSA is asked to consider the long-term, and not just the short-term, effects of genetically modified organisms (GMOs); fully co-operate with member states' national scientific bodies; and to provide them with a detailed justification if it decides to rejects scientific objections raised by the national authorities. In the document, the Commission also gives itself the right to suspend the authorisation procedure and refer the assessment back to EFSA if a member state raises "important new scientific questions" which are not fully addressed by the EFSA opinion. Commission spokesperson Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen stressed that while the new procedures did not mark a major shift in the EU approval process, the Commission wanted to avoid "undue delays" in GMO approvals, a possible reference to the recent WTO ruling on the application of EU biotech rules (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 17 February 2006). In related developments, Austria imposed a two-year ban on imports of Monsanto's GT73 oilseed rape the day after the EU decision, notwithstanding the fact that the GMO had been approved by the European Commission on 31 August 2005 and that criticisms were made of other Austrian GMO bans in the WTO preliminary biotech ruling. Concerns raised by the Austrian Council of environment ministers included the lack of long-term toxicity and allergenicity tests and the potential for the unintentional spread of the variety as a result of cross-breeding with conventional crops if imported in large quantities along transport routes.

The EU press release outlining changes to the scientific evaluation and decision-making processes used in the trading block, entitled "Commission proposes practical improvements to the way the European GMO legislative framework is implemented," can be viewed at http://europa.eu.int/press_room/index_en.htm

For additional information on Austria's decision on GT73, visit http://www.bmgf.gv.at/cms/site/detail.htm?thema=CH0255&doc=CMS1144914646396

"Cracks start to show in EU GMO policy," EURACTIV, 6 April 2006; " EU Commissioners Split on Genetically-Modified Food," REUTERS, 6 April 2006; " Safety Checks on GMOs Flawed - EU Environment Chief," REUTERS, 6 April 2006; " Biotech industry accuses GM conference of lacking balance," NEUTRAINGREDIENTS, 5 April 2006; " Stage set for EU food safety overhaul over GMOs," INDIAN EXPRESS, 7 April 2006; " Biotech companies lobby EU to keep current GM crop rules," AP, 7 April 2006; "EU Vows Clarity on GMOs, Eyes End to Deadlock," REUTERS, 13 April 2006; "Commission for more transparency on GMO decisions," EURACTIV, 13 April 2006.

BASEL CONVENTION POINTS TO IMO NEGOTIATIONS ON NEW SHIP TREATY

The Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes met for its fifth session in Geneva on 3-7 April. Executive Secretary Kuwabara-Yamamoto identified ship dismantling as a major issue which recently attracted international attention because of the controversial proposed dismantling of French ship Clemenceau in Indian waters (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 17 February 2006). The Clemenceau case highlighted the current uncertainty regarding the international jurisdiction over ship dismantling; the Basel Convention currently has jurisdiction over transboundary shipments of Hazardous Wastes, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) over ships and the International Labour Organisations over labour in shipbreaking yards. While negotiations are currently underway at the IMO on a legally binding instrument on ship recycling, delegates at the meeting decided to keep the issue on the Basel Convention agenda so that Parties to the Convention can continue to debate the best way to input into the IMO negotiations to ensure that the new instrument fulfils the Basel Convention's environmental objectives.

The discussion on synergies with the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, which includes proposals to consolidate the leadership and secretariats of the three conventions, proved particularly controversial. One Nigerian delegate warned that "Basel is being weakened and subjected to a marriage that is going to kill the Convention". This issue, and others, will be discussed at the Convention of the Parties to the Basel Convention, to be held in Nairobi in November 2006.

ICTSD Reporting.

RATIFICATION OF EU-MOROCCO FISHING AGREEMENT STALLED

The European Parliament on 4 April voted against ratifying the EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) owing to controversy regarding Moroccan control of the Western Sahara region. Although the FPA treats Western Sahara as part of Morocco, and requires only the ratification of the accord by Moroccan authorities to justify fishing in the waters of Western Sahara, there is uncertainty whether the Moroccan government has legal responsibility for the region. The confusion stems from Morocco's invasion of Western Sahara in 1975 and a advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice that Morocco had no claim to the Western Sahara and that the Saharawi living in the region have a right to self determination. EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg contended that because Morocco is the de facto administrator of the territory, the planned deal is valid under international law. However, France and Portugal spoke against ratifying the FPA, saying that it was too rushed, while northern European countries led by Sweden said that the deal should not be ratified because it would be against international law for the EU to seal a pact with Morocco under the assumption that it includes Western Sahara. The vote will further stall the implementation of the July 2005 agreement which was originally hoped to come into effect on 1 March 2006 (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 2 September 2005). Discussions will continue amongst members of the EP and will focus on the possibility of inserting a clause into the agreement registering the unease of the EU of allowing access to waters off the Western Sahara. The agreement is due to come before the Fisheries Committee and Parliament for ratification next month.

"EU-Morocco Fishing Deal Sparks Tensions on W. Sahara," REUTERS, 3 April 2006; "Saharan Fish and the EU," ZNET, 28 March 2006; "Commission under fire over Morocco fisheries agreement," MUSLIM NEWS, 10 March 2006.