Les contrats internationaux de bioprospection: Moyende protection de la biodiversité et des savoirs traditionnels ou instrument de biopiraterie?

Abstract

The choice of international bioprospecting agreements and free market based solution, as means of implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) goals relating to the conservation of biodiversity and access and benefit sharing, may reveal in many respects harmful to southern players, specially indigenous communities. In practice, because of the unequal bargaining strength of the parties, these bilateral agreements may be easily exploited by the most powerful part to become a tool of biopiracy. This is the case when the conditions of the CBD regarding prior informed consent and fair and equitable benefit sharing are not complied with. In all cases, these agreements cannot protect traditional knowledge from biopiracy in a satisfactory way nor be a reliable alternative to a multilateral compulsory system as that advocated today by the countries of the South within the framework of the Council for the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) working group relating to the review of the provisions of TRIPs Agreement.