Lawson, Charles; Sanderson, Jay --- "The Evolution of the CBD’s Development Agenda that may Influence the Interpretation and Development of TRIPS" [2008] ELECD 213; in Malbon, Justin; Lawson, Charles (eds), "Interpreting and Implementing the TRIPS Agreement" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008)

Book Title: Interpreting and Implementing the TRIPS Agreement

Editor(s): Malbon, Justin; Lawson, Charles

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847201447

Section: Chapter 7

Section Title: The Evolution of the CBD’s Development Agenda that may Influence the Interpretation and Development of TRIPS

Author(s): Lawson, Charles; Sanderson, Jay

Number of pages: 28

Extract:

7. The evolution of the CBD's
development agenda that may
influence the interpretation and
development of TRIPS
Charles Lawson and Jay Sanderson

1. INTRODUCTION

The United Nations' Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) entered into
force for Contracting Parties on 29 December 1993. At the same time,
minimum intellectual property standards were being established and codified
in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
(TRIPS) for World Trade Organization (WTO) Member States. After more
than ten years, the interaction between the CBD and TRIPS remains unre-
solved (see IP/C/W/368/Rev.1; IP/C/W/369/Rev.1; IP/C/W/370/Rev.1), and
the internationally contested inherent conflicts between TRIPS and the CBD
remain. The conflict can be summed up as follows: TRIPS requires that
genetic materials be protected by patents or a sui generis plant variety regime
that privately appropriates genetic resources over which a country has sov-
ereign rights under the CBD (see, for example, IP/C/W/368, p. 2), and that
these privileges do not also require the additional measures set out in the
CBD, such as prior informed consent, mutually agreed terms and benefit-
sharing (see, for example, IP/C/M/28, p. 43; IP/C/W/368, p. 2). Resolving this
apparent conflict has, this chapter argues, consequences for both the CBD
and TRIPS. This chapter therefore considers the likely interpretive effects of
the CBD on TRIPS, with the CBD providing some insight into the failure to
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