Política sobre biodiversidad peruana incomoda a EE.UU.
La legislación del Perú reconoce los conocimientos ancestrales. Las empresas de EE.UU. tendrían que reconocer regalías a nuestros pueblos
Marienella Ortiz Ramírez - Diario El Comercio - 06/11/2008
Uno de los temas de discordia en la fase previa de la implementación del tratado de libre comercio (TLC) entre el Perú y Estados Unidos es nuestra política interna de protección de conocimientos tradicionales, regida en la legislación del Indecopi.
Si bien este debate no es parte del paquete de medidas legislativas que nuestro país trabaja para implementar el acuerdo comercial, el tema sí incomoda a las autoridades estadounidenses en materia de propiedad intelectual, explicó el presidente del Indecopi, Jaime Thorne.
Explicó que cuando el TLC entre en vigencia --se espera que sea el 1 de enero del 2009-- las empresas de Estados Unidos se verían obligadas a reconocer regalías a las comunidades nativas por el uso de sus conocimientos y productos en biodiversidad, los mismos que están inscritos en un registro de conocimientos colectivos que maneja el Indecopi. "El gran escollo, más que los datos de prueba (tema señalado en otras ocasiones como un problema en la implementación de las normas peruanas) está en los temas de biodiversidad, en el registro de conocimientos tradicionales y vegetales", recalcó el funcionario.
Asimismo, sostuvo que el Perú no tiene que eliminar estos registros, que se crearon bajo la Ley 27811, debido a que no existe ningún compromiso previo con EE.UU. para su eliminación. Al respecto, el experto en temas de propiedad intelectual Luis Alonso García resaltó que la visión que Estados Unidos tiene internacionalmente sobre este tema es totalmente contraria a la posición que el Perú sostiene. "Nuestro país considera necesario que cada vez que se busque la patente de un recurso genético pueda exigirse el origen del mismo, el consentimiento y lo que tenga que ver con la distribución justa y equitativa por el uso de ese recurso", resaltó.
Por su parte, la presidenta del Comité de Productos Naturales de la Asociación de Exportadores (ÁDEX), Alejandra Velazco, afirmó que cada país tiene derecho a contar con un registro de sus conocimientos ancestrales, sobre todo el Perú, que cuenta con una gran riqueza biológica. También indicó que este tipo de registro es un arma para luchar contra la biopiratería que realizan empresas en el extranjero, para que así se reconozca el origen de nuestros recursos.
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