Kameri-Mbote, Patricia; Otieno-Odek, James --- "Genetic Use Restriction Technologies and Sustainable Development in Eastern and Southern Africa" [2009] ELECD 587; in Meléndez-Ortiz, Ricardo; Roffe, Pedro (eds), "Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009)

Book Title: Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development

Editor(s): Meléndez-Ortiz, Ricardo; Roffe, Pedro

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848446458

Section: Chapter 9

Section Title: Genetic Use Restriction Technologies and Sustainable Development in Eastern and Southern Africa

Author(s): Kameri-Mbote, Patricia; Otieno-Odek, James

Number of pages: 26

Extract:

9. Genetic use restriction technologies and
sustainable development in eastern and
southern Africa
Patricia Kameri-Mbote and James Otieno-Odek

INTRODUCTION

Many eastern and southern African (ESA) countries have had to revisit their intellec-
tual property rights regimes in response to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This has
coincided with the development of new technologies that necessitate changes in domestic
laws for the protection of new inventions. The dearth of human and resource capacity in
both intellectual property (IP) and emerging technologies has constrained the ability of
these countries to consider and respond to the growing needs of their national develop-
ment agendas. The ESA countries have therefore engaged in legislative changes at the
domestic level purely as a legal requirement without analysing the impacts of the changes
on the countries and the region as a whole. The protection of genetic use restriction
technologies (GURTs) through intellectual property rights (IPRs) could, for example,
have a significant impact on access to technology by farmers in the region. This has not,
however, been explicitly addressed in the IP legislation. The ambivalence of this legisla-
tion to GURTs can, in some instances, be misinterpreted as support for IPRs' protection
of GURTS.
This chapter looks at the interface between GURTs and IPRs on sustainable use of
agro-biodiversity and food security. The research stems from a particular concern that
IPRs will have a negative impact on agriculture, which is the largest source ...