Intellectual property rights and biological diversity: Considerations for Latin America

Abstract

The legal and institutional transformations that have accompanied free trade agreements in such important areas as competitiveness, industrial development, public health, education, food security, environment and Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are the subject of intense discussions in various national and international forums.1 In relation to IPRs and the environment, and due to the emergence of an international body of laws within the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and of the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, emphasis has been placed on the existence of a conflict between certain tendencies oriented toward the strengthening of IPRs and the objectives of conserving, using biodiversity sustainably and equitably distributing the benefits derived from the use of © 2010 Springer-Verlag New York.