This collection of papers is aimed at providing those making and influencing policies at the intersetion of biotechnology, trade and sustainability with a comprehensive overview of key policy areas - in Eastern Africa and beyond - to enable the formulation of coherent policies. Moreover, it offers a platform for leading thinkers from Eastern Africa to share their concerns and aspirations with policy stakeholders around the world in an effort to help raise awareness and support the insertion of their perspectives in global debates and policy-making.

This publication aims to shed some light on key issues related to biotechnology, trade and sustainable development by providing a balanced overview that is accessible to a wide range of actors in the trade and biotechnology communities. It is intended to be a tool to enable the different stakeholders to identify and articulate their priorities related to biotechnology, and balance these objectives against the various trade interests and obligations. We hope that the document will help stimulate an informed debate that can go beyond entrenched and polarised positions towards a constructive exchange to support effective policy- and rule-making in this area.

Few scientific developments have given rise to as much controversy as biotechnology. Numerous groups are united in their opposition to the technology for environmental, ethical and developmental reasons, while the supporters point to potential benefits for food security, environmental protection and rural development. As a result, countries - and sectors within countries - find themselves at odds with each other while potential opportunities offered by the use of biotechnology are seized or missed, and related risks go unmanaged.

Trading in Genes examines this debate, bringing together leading experts to address issues such as diffusion of technology, intellectual property rights, the Cartagena Protocol, impacts of international trade, capacity building and biotechnology research and regulation. It thereby provides readers with a single-volume overview of the connections between biotechnology, trade and sustainability that is both side-ranging and thorough.

An unprecedented surge in the scope and level of the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) has been engulfing the world. Developing countries in particular face huge challenges when designing and implementing IPR policy at all levels. As the policy options for these nations to use IPRs in support for their broader development strategies are being rapidly narrowed down, many experts are questioning the 'one-size-fits-all' approach to IPR protection and are backing a rebalancing of the global regime.

Trading in Knowledge unravels and explains the many significant issues at stake in IPR negotiations and treaties. It offers unique perspectives on IPRs and trade from a diverse range of developing country participants including civil society actors, farmers, grassroots organisations, researchers and government officials. Contributions from well-known developed country authorities round out the selections.

Cet ouvrage de 330 pages constitue un recueil unique d'articles, d'analyses et d'opinions sur la problématique du commerce international et du développement durable, telle qu' elle se présente dans le contexte africain. Les thèmes abordés couvrent: le lien entre le commerce et la sécurité alimentaire, les droits de propriété intellectuelle et la gestion des ressources biologiques, les pêcheries ou les difficultés d'accès aux marchés d'exportation et bien d'autres encore. Africains dans leur très grande majorité, les auteurs ayant contribué à cet ouvrage, proviennent d'horizons très divers. Universitaires, représentants de gouvernements, organisations non gouvernementales, fonctionnaires internationaux, tous apportent tous un regard et une expertise qui leur est propre.

Trade, Environment, and Sustainable Development 
Views from Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America: A Reader
Eds. KÖNZ, Peider, Bellmann, Christophe, Assuncao, Lucas and Melendez-Otiz, Ricardo © UNU/IAS & ICTSD (2000), Geneva, Switzerland. 445pp, ISBN: 4-906686-05-2.

This reference document gathers a unique collection of analytical, research, commentary and case study articles from Sub-Saharan African and Latin American authors on the hard issues in the current debate on trade, environment and sustainable development. It contains papers by a diversity of stakeholders including governments, NGOs, academics and international organizations. This Reader responds to the urgent need to better inform global policy and opinion-makers of Southern sustainable development priorities, and contributes to clarifying the relationship between trade liberalization, economic growth, poverty alleviation, and environmental degradation.

"The trade and environment debate is well anchored at the WTO by means of the CTE's balanced and thoroughly negotiated agenda. Recently this debate has been overtaken in the public opinion agenda by a far-reaching discussion of the interlinkages between trade and sustainable development. The persistence of the North-South cleavage in an era of globalization requires that the development aspirations of the majority of WTO members be addressed in this discussion. Such aspirations are part and parcel of the heuristic dimensions of the concept of sustainability. This book is a commendable contribution to a better understanding of the broad dimensions of this interlinkage today and of its implications for future generations."

Celso LAFER, Professor, São Paulo University. Formerly Permanent Representative to the WTO, Minister of Development, Industries and Trade, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil

"Good dialogue and sound knowledge of the issues are the basis of any real advance in establishing an adequate relation between trade and sustainable development. By gathering views by academic experts, government officials and practitioners from the developing world, generally absent from the international debate, this Reader shows that there is sufficient capacity in these regions to lead to constructive solutions."

Yolanda KAKABADSE, Executive President, Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano, Ecuador, President of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), and former Minister of Environment of Ecuador.