|
Revelation of the terms of the controversial Diversa-Yellowstone
bioprospecting agreement has provoked strong reactions in the US
and Mexico (see Seedling, March 1999, p 2). Last year, several
US NGOs unsuccessfully appealed to the US Government to disclose
the terms of the deal. However, a newspaper reporter managed to
find these out independently. According to the deal, Diversa will
give Yellowstone:
• A $20,000 payment annually for 5 years,
minus any royalties accrued by the park from net sales or revenues
of commercially viable products from park resources.
• Royalties of 0.5% of net sales of industrial
or pharmaceutical products resulting from Yellowstone microbes,
3% of net sales of “research reagent or diagnostic”
products made from Yellowstone genetic resources and 8%of net
sales of “native enzymes purified from cultured microorganisms”
found in the park.
• A royalty of 10% of net revenues realised
by Diversa from the licensing, assignment or sale of copyrighted
work such as books, journal articles or genetic code — created
using the results of research from Yellowstone biological resources.
• Equipment and up to 10 days of training,
worth an estimated $15,000 annually.
"This is a rotten deal," says
Joe Mendelson of the International Center for Technology Assessment,
one of the NGOs active in opposing the deal. "Allowing commercial
exploitation inside a national park at a far lower royalty rate
than you find on lands legally allowed to be commercially exploited
is just preprosterous." But, contends Yellowstone Park
superintendent Mike Finley, "For us, any amount is better
than zero. We were issuing permits and seeing no return."
The issue has exacerbated discontent over a similar
deal that Diversa struck with Mexico’s National Autonomous
University (UNAM). According to Alejandro Nadal, a law professor
with the Center for Economic Studies, Diversa was given the keys
to Mexico’s genetic heritage for a "pittance."
While the country has only 1.3% of the world’s land area, it
holds 14.4% of the world’s plant species - way more than the
US. Yet, the terms of the deal are even lower than those offered
in Yellowstone. In exchange for access to the country’s diversity,
UNAM was promised equipment valued at $5,000, technical training
in bioprospecting, $50 for each sample collected, royalties of 0.5%
on pharmaceuticals derived from the samples and 0.3% royalties for
any other products.
According to Diversa, Nadal’s assessment of
the deal is incomplete and does not include all elements of the
agreement. The company also contends that the Mexican contract includes
a "most favoured nation" clause that allows parity
with any other Diversa contract. Even if that is the case, this
provides little comfort for most critics, who argue that the terms
of any of Diversa’s deals are pitiful, and that bioprospecting
deals are not the way to ensure the conservation and sustainable
use of biodiversity.
Sources: C Smith, Salt Lake Tribune,
Oct 4, 1999; Salt Lake Tribune, Sept 29, 1999.
|
