SPROUTING UP: DIVERSA DEALS REVEALED

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.