La Comisión Nacional contra la Biopiratería que busca defender el derecho a la propiedad de los conocimientos tradicionales que tienen nuestros pueblos indígenas y el derecho a la propiedad de los recursos genéticos que tenemos todos los peruanos.
Jaime Miranda Sousa 09/11/2009
Sobre la biodiversidad existe el derecho a la propiedad de los conocimientos tradicionales que tienen nuestros pueblos indígenas y el derecho a la propiedad de los recursos genéticos que tenemos todos los peruanos. El año 2004, para defender nuestra biodiversidad, se creó la Comisión Nacional contra la Biopiratería, adscrita a la PCM con 13 miembros que representan a 4 ministerios, al Indepa, a la comunidad científica y académica, a los empresarios, a la sociedad civil y al Indecopi, cuyo representante la preside. Ella coordina y cataliza diversas acciones relacionadas a su competencia.
Con organización y funciones únicas en el mundo, la Comisión ha logrado impedir la concesión de 7 patentes en el extranjero, hecho que, por constituir un precedente reconocido internacionalmente, ha despertado el interés internacional por conocerla a profundidad. Los logros obtenidos se deben al apoyo de sus miembros, al de su secretaria técnica (con dos funcionarios), a la colaboración desinteresada de algunos científicos y a las gestiones de nuestros diplomáticos en las diferentes oficinas de patentes en el mundo.
Ella, sin tratar de impedir el uso de nuestra biodiversidad, busca buenas prácticas comerciales que garanticen el derecho de los peruanos, además entiende que la internacionalmente aceptada soberanía sobre nuestra biodiversidad es el derecho a compartir o transferir lo que sus propietarios desean participar o trasladar. La biopiratería también afecta a los consumidores que buscan tener acceso a productos que, habiendo sido originados por nuestra biodiversidad, han llegado a sus mercados utilizando buenas prácticas comerciales y dentro de un clima comercial ético y moral.
A quienes con el poder comparable a un tanque buscan acceder ilegalmente a nuestra biodiversidad los combatimos con elementos comparables a una bicicleta y con una estrategia ética y moral que está permitiendo que una “bicicleta” le gane a un “tanque”. El señor Francis Gurry, director general de la OMPI (Organización de la ONU especializada en Propiedad Intelectual), dedicó más de una hora de su único día en el Perú para profundizar su conocimiento sobre el funcionamiento y política de nuestra Comisión, la misma que se financia con donaciones. No sería ético ocultar que la comisión materia de la presente es presidida por el autor de esta nota.
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Biopiracy Leaves Native Groups Out in the Cold - 09/02/2011
Millions of cancer patients around the world benefit from a medication called Paclitaxel (Taxol), which may begin to be produced from a new source: fungi found at the summit of Venezuela's flat-topped mountains. But the indigenous communities who have lived in that area since time immemorial will receive no benefits, and were not even consulted on the matter.
Rare Cacao Beans Discovered in Peru - 11/01/2011
DAN PEARSON was working in northern Peru two years ago with his stepson Brian Horsely, supplying gear and food to mining companies, when something caught his eye. “We were in a hidden mountain valley of the Marañón River and saw some strange trees with football-size pods growing right out of their trunks,” Mr. Pearson said by telephone last week. “I knew nothing about cacao, but I learned that’s what it was.”
A new legal instrument at the service of sustainable development opens for signature - 02/02/2011
At a ceremony held today in New York, the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization was opened for signature by Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Addressing the opening ceremony, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on all Parties to expedite the early entry into force of this new legal instrument at the service of sustainable development and to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
New rice variety could ease Mozambique's supplies - 15/01/2011
Smallholders struggling to grow rice in Mozambique could benefit from a variety that boosts yields nearly six-fold and is less prone to disease.
A growing perception that the Chinese public is uneasy about genetically modified (GM) crops has led to a roundtable dialogue on GM crops between scientists and the general public.
Biopiracy crackdown results in $59M in fines for Brazilian companies, receives mixed reviews Morgan Erickson-Davis, mongabay.com - 31/12/2010
The Brazilian government is stepping up anti-"biopiracy" measures and imposing substantial fines on companies which make use of rare plants or animals without giving adequate compensation to Brazil or its indigenous communities. The move attracts criticism by some who believe that it hampers scientific research.
San people's cactus drug dropped by Phytopharm - 20/12/2010
The development of an obesity drug from a traditional remedy used by Africa's San people has suffered a setback, after a pharmaceutical company abandoned its research — leaving prospects of a commercial product uncertain.
U.S. Says Genes Should Not Be Eligible for Patents - 29/10/2010
Reversing a longstanding policy, the federal government said on Friday that human and other genes should not be eligible for patents because they are part of nature. The new position could have a huge impact on medicine and on the biotechnology industry. The new position was declared in a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Department of Justice late Friday in a case involving two human genes linked to breast and ovarian cancer.
Rural Communities Oppose Bill On Traditional Knowledge - 19/10/2010
The Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry will hold hearings on October 19th and 20th on the Intellectual Property Amendment Bill, which aims to strengthen intellectual property rights relating to traditional performances, traditional work, traditional terms of expressions and traditional designs.
Could things for biodiversity go from bad to worse? - 19/07/2010
Current efforts to protect the world's biodiversity run the risk of doing more harm than good, warns Krystyna Swiderska. In this week's Green Room, she says the role of indigenous and local communities in protecting the planet's genetic resources are being overlooked or even ignored.
Pelargonium Patent Challenge against Dr. Willmar Schwabe- 17/03/2010
On the 25th and 26th January 2010, the ACB will give evidence at a hearing at the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich, Germany.
JOY AS PELARGONIUM PATENT REVOKED- 17/03/2010
The Opposition Division of the European Patent Office (EPO) has today revoked a patent granted to Dr. Willmar Schwabe (Schwabe) in its entirety.
Tanzania: U.S., Brazil Seek Patent to Local Sorghum- 15/02/2010
Nairobi — Tanzania is planning to move to court to stop the US and Brazilian governments, jointly with two multinational firms, from patenting a sorghum gene isolated from Tanzanian farms.
Joy as pelargonium patent revoked - 20/01/2010
The Opposition Division of the European Patent Office (EPO) has today revoked a patent granted to Dr. Willmar Schwabe (Schwabe) in its entirety.
The recent patenting of a Thai rice gene will pave the way for overseas firms to obtain copyrights of Thai biological and genetic resources, intellectual property rights experts and farmer advocates warn.
Enola Patent Ruled Invalid
- 14/07/2009
On July 10, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that U.S. patent 5,894,079 (the “Enola” bean patent), which claims a yellow bean of Mexican origin, is invalid because none of the patent claims meet the criterion of non-obviousness. The case has been closely watched by civil society groups concerned about biopiracy, the patenting of life and the corporate control of food production.
Farmers’ Rights at the FAO- 05/06/2009
After four days of difficult negotiations among 121 governments at a UN Food and Agricultural Organization Treaty meeting on the use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture held in Tunisia, a Canadian effort to block progress was overturned. At midnight on Thursday, Brazil read an amended resolution on farmers’ rights to a tired plenary, shifting the prevailing tension amongst delegates into relief and enthusiasm.
India protects traditional medicines from patents - 03/03/2009
To prevent foreign companies from patenting indigenous medicine, the Indian government has made 200,000 traditional medicines "public property" — available for anyone to use but no one to sell as a brand.
Companies lobby to secure patents in antartica - 02/06/2009
Companies developing new products through biological discovery or "bioprospecting" are trying to file patents on Antarctic organisms or molecules for items ranging from cosmetics to medicines, putting new strains on the treaty demanding all scientific findings on Antarctica be freely shared.
Rural communities to benefit from natural plants - 16/01/2009
Rural communities are set to benefit from research firms and the University of Nairobi’s plan to market natural plants. The move is aimed at boosting the living standards of rural communities and preserving the environment.
USPTO overturns controversial yellow bean patent
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) reversed the controversial patent for a common yellow bean breed.
Resource Notification: Seed Wars
A new book entitled "Seed Wars: Controversies and Cases on Plant Genetic Resources and Intellectual Property" gives an overview of U.S. and international controversies over intellectual property protections for plant genetic resources (PGRs).
India working on GM herbs, says Greenpeace - 05/11/2008
Even as the debate over safety and essentiality of genetically modified (GM) foods continues, Indian research institutes are trying to genetically modify some high-value medicinal herbs that are an integral part of ayurvedic medicine, a recent report of pro-environment group Greenpeace has said.
Monsanto Profiteering Condemned - 26/9/2008
NOTE: Some very powerful points here from the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations, made at the opening of the High-level Event on the Millennium Development Goals at the U.N. in New York.
'Pirataria biológica é uma lenda urbana' - 13/07/2008
Hirsch diz que Brasil se preocupa demais com 'roubo' da biodiversidade e que mundo enfrenta estado de 'bioparanóia'
Firms Seek Patents on 'Climate Ready' Altered Crops - 13/05/2008
A handful of the world's largest agricultural biotechnology companies are seeking hundreds of patents on gene-altered crops designed to withstand drought and other environmental stresses, part of a race for dominance in the potentially lucrative market for crops that can handle global warming, according to a report being released today.
Gene Giants Grab "Climate Genes" - 13/05/2008
A report released today by Canadian-based civil society organization, ETC Group, reveals that the world's largest seed and agrochemical corporations are stockpiling hundreds of monopoly patents on genes in plants that the companies will market as crops genetically engineered to withstand environmental stresses associated with climate change - including drought, heat, cold, floods, saline soils, and more. ETC Group's report warns that the promise of so-called "climate-ready" crops will be used to drive farmers and governments onto a proprietary biotech platform.
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