RAFI Translator: The Commission – Phase Three
CGRFA '97 Has More Work To Do Than It Thinks!
CGRFA '97 Has More Work To Do Than It Thinks!
The CGRFA held its 7th regular session in Rome from 15-23 May, 1997. the commission's 154 member countries had 2 tasks: to continue negotiations leading to a legally-binding International Undertaking covering plant genetic resources that could become an agricultural protocol to the Biodiversity Convention, and, to maintain the momentum achieved through last year's Leipzig Conference on Plant Genetic Resources. Most commission members exceeded their own expectations regarding the International Undertaking - but they fell short of the acceptable minimum on the second objectve.
Protocol on Gene Access Could MUSEum Farmers' Rights & Sanction North's MonoUSE
RAFI reviews the context, issues, events and strategies leading up to the Fourth Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources in Leipzig, 17-23 June 1996. A 12 page document.
One of the most eagerly awaited publications in the plant genetic resources (PGR) community. - Diversity 1994, 10(2), 25
The recent GATT agreement and the Biodiversity Convention have moved intellectual property rights to the centre of South-North relations.
Decisions about intellectual property, particularly for plant life, have major implications for food security, agriculture, rural development, and the environment for every country in the South and the North. For the South, in particular, the impact of intellectual property on farmers, rural societies, and biological diversity will be profoundly important.
* Patents granted for genetically engineered cotton could profoundly influence the future of a $20 billion crop critical to many national economies in the South.
* Farmers' organizations in Andean countries believe that patents granted for two varieties of coloured cotton do not recognize the major contribution to the new product by indigenous communities in South and Central America.
-Human Genome Diversity Project
-Rubber
-Castor Oil
-Pyrethrum
-US Patents Awarded on Materials Derived from African Plants: Monelli0n and Thaumatin
-Endod
-Citrus
-Bovine Growth Hormone
-Genetically Engineered Human Milk Proteins
-Bio-Piracy and Neem
-Who Owns Bt and
-Potato Blight
Three new developments in potato production:
- True potato seed
- Rapid multiplication technologies for seed potatoes
- Genetic engineering for potatoes
Farmers’ Rights: The Informal Innovation System at GATT (TRIPS) and Intellectual Property Negotiations in the Context of New Biotechnologies
The International Board of Plant Genetic Resources is undertaking an evaluation of each gene bank which is previously designated as a "base" for plant germplasm storage. A partial report covering the first 17 banks was submitted to the board in February, 1987, exposing major security problems.
The establishment of an international fund for the conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources, participation of governments in the UN Food and Agriculture Organizations International undertaking to promote full exchange of genetic resources, and the establishment of an international system of gene banks under FAO auspices.
This report was published by the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation in 1983.
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