UN Nears Landmark Deal On Combatting Biopiracy

Geneva, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th May, 2024) The fight against biopiracy -- plundering genetic resources and the traditional knowledge surrounding them -- could soon be based on an international treaty, which is being finalised at negotiations that began on Monday.

"Let me be candid -- negotiations will not be easy," warned Daren Tang, head of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), as the diplomatic conference in Geneva got under way.

After more than 20 years of talks on the subject, WIPO's more than 190 member states are meeting at the agency's Geneva headquarters until May 24 for negotiations on finalising a treaty.

The United Nations agency dealing with patenting and innovation will try to conclude an agreement by consensus.

Tang said countries were on "the cusp of a truly landmark agreement".

"There is no contradiction between a robust and predictable IP regime -- one that incentivises innovation, attracts investments and drives game-changing research -- and one that responds to the needs of all countries and their communities everywhere, including those from Indigenous peoples, as well as from local communities," he said.

The draft treaty text says patent applicants would be required to disclose which country the genetic resources in an invention came from, and the indigenous people who provided the associated traditional knowledge.

"It's about fighting biopiracy -- that's to say the use of traditional knowledge or genetic resources without the agreement of those who held them and without them being able to benefit from them," said Christophe Bigot, who is leading the French delegation.