China, Brazil, India and nine other of the world's most
"biodiverse" countries signed an alliance in Mexico City on Monday
to fight biopiracy and press for rules protecting their people's
rights to genetic resources found on their land.
The declaration - also signed by representatives of Indonesia,
Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Kenya, Peru, Venezuela and South
Africa - echoed complaints long voiced by Indians and
environmentalists: that wealthy nations are "prospecting" for
species in order to patent or sell them without offering
concessions or benefits for local people.
"Up to now, our nations have not benefited from this great wealth
because there hasn't been an equal sharing between the nations
involved, nor with the rural and Indian groups that use and protect
biodiversity," said Mexican Environment Secretary Victor
Lichtinger.
Together, the 12 nations in the alliance - which account for 70
percent of the world's biodiversity - said they would press for
more equal trade rules on patenting and registering products based
on plant and animal resources, The Associated Press said.
Formed in the resort city of Cancun, Mexico, and formally known as
the Group of Allied Mega-Biodiverse Nations, the alliance pledged
to press their cause at this summer's UN World Summit on
Sustainable Development, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa,
in August.
Corporations that make medicines from naturally occurring plant
derivatives, or secure patents on genetic modifications of those
species, have raised fears that the people who first showed
scientists where to find those plants could lose the right to use
them.
(eastday.com February 20,
2002)