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W. E. SIEBECK
Survey of property rights and conditions of access to genetic resources on the
international level – problems and possibilities for solution
WOLFGANG E. SIEBECK 1
International agricultural research draws heavily on the cooperation of the global research
commune. Free exchange of information and germplasm among researchers and breeders the
world over has been the rule to this day, and has served research collaboration well.
This is changing: while plant variety protection laws and treaties largely allow scientists to operate
by the old rules, patent protection no longer does. This may not all be detrimental. Positive spinoffs
should be expected.
Nonetheless, a very serious concern is the response of the Third World. In 1983, as part of the
FAO "International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources" 2 , both developing and developed
countries agreed that plant genetic resources are part of the heritage of mankind, and available
without restrictions to all. The Convention of Biological Diversity 3 signed in Rio de Janeiro in June
1992 recognizes sovereign rights of nations over their germplasm resources. Only in exchange for
industrial country funding of conservation efforts and transfer of technologies, have developing
countries agreed to allow continued access to their biological resources. Hence, what used to be
free will no longer be. While regulations and protocols remain to be drawn up under the new
Convention, if administered in an adversarial spirit, the Convention could impede the flow of
germplasm in international research cooperation, to the detriment of both developing and industrial
countries.
1 Free Access or Intellectual Property Protection – What Does it Do For Research?
To date, international research collaboration has worked with a minimum of rules and regulations.
States apply phyto-sanitary controls over plant material entering their territories, and enforce
quarantine regulations which have slowed or impeded the flow of research material.
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c/o Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
The World Bank
1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20433 USA
Resolution 8/83 of the Twenty-second Session of the FAO Conference, Rome, 5-23 November 1983.
UNEP "Convention on Biological Diversity". The United States as only country declined to sign in Rio
on the grounds that the Convention insufficiently protected intellectual property of its industry. After the
change in government it signed in June 1993.