A 5-day-long meeting of the working group on access to genetic resources and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources ended recently in Bangkok, Thailand. In this working group established in the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity Estonia was represented by the Nature Conservation Department of the Ministry of the Environment. The working group on access to genetic resources and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources (ABS – access and benefit sharing related to genetic resources) is developing an international system that is designed to regulate access to the natural resources of countries and ensure fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilisation of these resources. The introduction of the system is supported mainly by countries with a high level of natural diversity (Brazil, Malaysia, India, Thailand, etc). They insist on establishing a strict legally binding system, as they want to protect their natural resources and gain profit from the utilisation of these resources. Western Countries are quite cautious about the system and hence support a more careful approach to this matter. They would rather explore the existing international measures and assess their deficiencies. At the moment, international access to natural resources is covered by different agreements. Unfortunately, these agreements do not address all areas of activity. The most well known of such agreements are the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (FAO). Estonia has joined both of these international agreements. CITES covers the utilisation of endangered species and FAO covers the utilisation of agricultural plants. However, a vast area between these two is uncovered – such as perfumery, cosmetics, botanic gardens, research institutions of universities and other scientific institutions, museums, collections, etc. In Estonia, for example, botanic gardens are faced with a specific problem – how to exchange genetic material without problems. By the end of the ABS process, a global binding system of access to natural resources and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from of the utilisation of natural resources has to be developed. The elements of the system would be, for example, using the certificate of the country of origin, indication of origin, country of origin authorisation, access rights for research and commercial use, fair economic revenue to the country of origin, conditions for reaching a prior agreement, etc. At the moment there is no global binding system. However, at the sixth meeting of parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity the so-called Bonn guidelines were adopted. Although these guidelines address the same subject, they are not legally binding. At this recently held meeting, a final agreement was not reached in regard to the system, but some success was achieved in specifying the objectives and elements. The next meeting of the ABS working group will be held in March next year. Further information: Press Representative of the Ministry of the Environment Phone (+372) 626 2993; (+372) 521 2602 E-mail: |
