SANFEC?S STATEMENT OF POSITION ON TRIPS ARTICLE 27.3(b) The following Statement of Position and Plan of Action on Intellectual Property Rights in lifeforms was adopted by South Asian Network on Food, Ecology and Culture (SANFEC) in the ?Workshop on Preparing for the Review of Article 27.3(b) of TRIPs? that took place in Tangail, Bangladesh during 22-25 February, 1999. The Workshop was jointly organized by UBINIG and ActionAid India and was attended by participants from Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, The Phillipines and Canada representing organizations and networks active at various national, regional and international levels.
South Asian communities are historically premised on the deep sense of moral, religious and cultural values. The region is inhabited by multi-ethnic, multi-religious and large indigenous communities. All trees, crops, animals, birds, organisms, and soils are inalienable part of our worships, our rituals, our celebrations, our joys, our culture of sharing and our loving affinity to each other. Our region is replete with hundreds of thousands of sacred groves where trees and plants are worshipped by people. We have a long history of spiritual and political movements where Sufis, Saints and various bhakti traditions have fought to preserve the integrity of Nature in her multiple expressions, including the beauty of the life forms.
Such gifts must be cared and respected and only then we gain moral rights to use them for our livelihood needs. The human as omnipotent consumer, that owns, controls, mutates, displaces and destroys the environment, through privatizations, colonizations and now through intellectual property rights (IPRs) in lifeforms, is totally against our cultures. We are strongly opposed to non recognition of the rights of other cultures to live on their own historical premise and principles.
The egocentric notion of ?rights? that privatise and colonise natural resources is very alien to the deep sense of moral, spiritual and cultural values of our communities. Similarly, knowledge as an intellectual property of an individual or a corporation is totally absurd proposition to our people. The Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that have inscribed such alien values are based on long colonial and racist histories of the world, and must be seen as a cultural and political issue, and not merely as elements of emerging legal discourse of new global order. We are not surprised to see that the old history of colonisation and privatisation is now being conducted openly and in bizarre legal rhetorics that are hardly understandable by the people. WTO and other trade regimes eliminate all possibilities of the people of our countries resolving issues of national concern within their own localities and within the boundaries of nation states. People all over the world have been depoliticised and transnationals have concentrated political powers in their hands and are enforcing it through the establishment of the World Trade Organization. Raw greed and the logic of profit dictates their morality, law, cultural values and politics. This is not acceptable to us.
Patenting of life through the introduction and expansion of Intellectual Property Rights is creating a great upheaval in our societies, amidst the precarious conditions precipitated by the new global order. As history reminds us the Great Indian Uprising of 1857 in the subcontinent was triggered by a culturally inappropriate technology (lard was introduced by the British for gun grease which offended the sensibilities of Muslim soldiers). Today a similar outrage is being perpetrated by transnational corporations through introduction of new genetic technologies that are a direct threat to our cultures and religions and has all the potential to trigger off greater turmoil. Worse still, they are demanding that we recognise patents on these technologies. This is a serious issue of public morality, and not a trade or legal issue to us.
Given this historical social, cultural and religious context, we do not see any options, but to say NO to any form of intellectual property rights on life forms.
No IPRs on life means no IPRs on micro-organisms, as well as on plant and animal varieties. Micro-organisms need to be excluded from TRIPS through an exclusion for "biodiversity" at large. TRIPs impedes the implementation of Convention of Biological Diversity, specifically the CBD objectives such as conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use and rights for local communities
Survival of the Human Race
In resisting intellectual property in life forms and opposing TRIPs we are not merely concerned about South Asian cultures and values. It is imperative for all of us to also understand that the biodiversity that is still preserved in Asia, Africa and Latin America, by diverse communities through the practice of their diverse knowledge and cultural systems, supports global food security and affords the only chance for human survival on the planet. It is this recognition which prompted the Convention on Biological Diversity to state in its preamble that the Contracting Parties affirm, ?that the conservation of biological diversity is a common concern of humankind?. CBD also clearly emphasised on international co-operation in ?respect of areas beyond national jurisdiction for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity?.
The implementation of Article 27.3(b) will further deteriorate the already precarious situation of the biodiversity of the world. The Northern industrial nations have substantially destroyed their life supporting biodiversity and agricultural systems. This has made the people of the industrial countries more vulnerable than ever. Article 27.3(b) which requires IPRs on plant varieties will industrialise our biological world, privatise life forms and accelerate monoculture, promote environmentally-destructive forms of biotechnology and genetic engineering, resulting in the control of our lives and environment by Transnational Corporations. The people of the industrialised North must recognise their crucial interest in the conservation and enhancement of the biodiversity of Asia, Africa and Latin America and distance themselves clearly from TNCs who are our common enemies. WE MUST BE UNITED TOGETHER TO FIGHT THIS ENEMY BEFORE TIME RUNS OUT.
Logic of the Rat Race
IPR regimes are a product of corporate greed and profit and work against the survival of the human race which depends on agriculture based on natural laws. The IPRs will promote monocultures and destroy biodiversity.
The whole purpose of WTO agreement is supposedly to facilitate free trade. Patenting which by definition, creates monopolies, goes against this professed intention and it is hypocritical to argue that IPRs are the instruments of free trade.
Besides, in the current political context of a unipolar world where one country, the USA, takes all the decisions for the entire world and punishes those who try to resist them through naked military aggression and economic sanctions, where is free trade? Free trade in this context is a myth and will not delude us.
Corporate seed monopolies will destroy agriculture and lifestyle of millions of farmers in our region. Nearly 90% of our region?s seed requirements are met by farmers themselves through biodiversity based production systems of farmers and will be forced to give way to markets controlled by monopolists. Current evidence tells us that international seed trade is monopolised by a small cartel of companies which controls a growing proportion of the world seed trade. This monopoly will be disastrous for farmers throughout the South.
Biodiversity is Not for Sale
Many of our megadiversity sites are heritage sites with ecological, religious and cultural significance. We cannot allow this sacred heritage of ours to be destroyed by an IPR regime.
Security of our nations is directly linked to biodiversity and therefore non negotiable. Moreover millions of our people are dependent on the biodiversity for their livelihoods. If we destroy it through IPRs we are directly affecting their livelihoods.
All our countries in this region are signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity. By implementing Article 27.3(b) of TRIPS agreement we will be undermining certain clauses in CBD like article 8j on community rights. Since our governments have both signed and ratified the CBD in their respective parliaments, we must not allow a trade treaty to violate the solemn agreement we have made for the sake of humankind.
Rights for Whom and Rights for What?
Right to Livelihood which is a basic human right will be violated by IPRs on life which threaten food security. By destroying biodiversity it will create special problems to millions of our rural women who are the traditional conservers and controllers of seed, who depend for their livelihood on plants, crops and other life forms. This will be particularly so at times of great environmental stress such as floods and droughts. Therefore IPRs are patently gender unjust and should be rejected.
The indigenous people have traditionally developed and conserved the megadiversity in their areas. The IPR regime applied to biodiversity will threaten the inalienable rights of these indigenous peoples, recognised in several international covenants and enshrined in some constitutions. This stands seriously compromised by the IPR regime.
Our Position : Biodiversity Out of TRIPS
We want to be unequivocal: we are very much in favour of innovation. Innovation is an ongoing and highly valued process in our societies and should be supported by appropriate incentives and rewards. In our view, the kind of rights we really need are not IPR and they would not be governed by WTO but they would support farmers, indigenous and local communities in their efforts over millenia to conserve and enhance biodiversity.
In the light of the above arguments, we the members of the SANFEC demand the exclusion of biodiversity from TRIPs. Article 27.3(b) should be reworded to provide a full and unconditional exclusion of all forms of biodiversity be they microorganisms, plants or animals, from IPR regimes.
We recognise that many countries and peoples have been looking at the ?sui generis? option under TRIPs Article 27.3(b) as a ?lease worst option? or ?damage control? mechanism. However, we feel this is a trap. Sui generis rights under TRIPs would have to provide some kind of IPR over seeds and plant varieties -- which we are against. Further, it would have to be ?effective? -- which means determined by industrialised countries and their corporations, and subject to trade sanctions. We recognise that developing countries that are members of the WTO are obliged to implement TRIPs Article 27.3(b) in its current form from the year 2000. We call on governments not to implement the above and at the same time press for its substantive review to demand total exclusion of all IPRs on life from the TRIPs regime. We suggest that Article 27.3(b) be reworded as follows:
Countries must exclude from Intellectual Property Rights (Patents, PBRs etc.) plants, animals, microorganisms and parts thereof, and any process making use thereof, or relating thereto.
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SANFEC PLAN OF ACTION ON ARTICLE 27.3(b)
We call upon the Governments of the region to:
*not implement Article 27.3 (b) of TRIPs in its current form and press for its substantive review to demand total exclusion of all IPR on life from the TRIPs regime. *develop and enforce a code of conduct for the regulation of all so-called life-science transnational corporations, with a view to protect the rights, livelihoods and food security of their people. *evolve a common SAARC position in relation to the review of the Article 27.3(b) *to collaborate among themselves, NGOs, CBOs and with other concerned agencies for exchange of information on the activities of TNCs involved in genetic engineering of seed. *ensure accountability of the public research institutions for the protection of the interests of the poor farmers, and for sustainable agriculture, bio-diversity and rights of the communities over their knowledge, technology, practice and genetic resources including all plants, plant-forms and animals.
We call upon the media of this region to
*give adequate coverage to the issues arising out of the review of Art. 27.3(b) of TRIPS, including challenges thrown up by NGOs, farmers and others working towards sustainable agriculture.
We call upon women and men farmers to
*unite and resist any attempt to impose intellectual property rights on life forms and any violation of their rights over their knowledge, technology, plants, animals and micro-organisms. *not buy or plant any genetically modified organisms or seeds in their lands. Nor should they allow such organisms or seeds to be planted in their neighbourhood so as to prevent unintended gene transfer. *continue to produce, preserve and enhance their traditional varieties of seeds.
We call upon the consumers to
*reject food made out of genetically-modified material, because of their adverse effect on human health and environment. *encourage organically grown food, especially those based on traditional varieties of crops.
We call upon the youth and students, to
*join the struggles of farmers against the life-science TNCs and against patenting of life-forms. *educate themselves and others on the harmful effects of genetic engineering on life forms.
We call upon NGOs to
*create wide awareness among farmers other NGOs and the general public, and mobilise them to rally against the IPRs on life-forms. *promote ecologically sustainable farming systems and participatory research on traditional technology, especially to establish the superiority and sustainability of organic farming systems. *exchange the results of their work among themselves, among farmers, and members of the government and research institutions.
We call upon the international organisations and UN bodies to
*support the farmers' rights campaign on 'no IPRs on life' *promote ecologically sustainable farming systems and participatory research on traditional technology *put pressure on the governments in the North to support the position on 'no IPRs on life'
SANFEC will work towards greater mobilisation of opinion with regard to the IPR on life forms within the SAARC forum.
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Fore more information, please contact
ActionAid India Policy and Advocacy Unit 3 Rest House Road Bangalore 560 001 India Tel: (91-80) 224 03 99 Fax: (91-80) 558 62 84 Email: pau(at)actionaidindia.org