(sorry for any dupes) MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AUTHORISES SWISS UNIVERSITY TO USE GENETIC RESOURCES FROM YANOMAMI LANDS No permission sought from the indigenous peoples by Mireya Tabuas The Ministry of Environment has signed a contract this month with the University of Zurich, Switzerland, granting access to the genetic resources in Yanomami territory. The Coordinator of the Organisation of Indigenous Peoples of the Amazonas State (ORPIA), Guillermo Guevara, denounced the contract because it was signed without notifying the Yanomami people who live in the area and will be affected by the decision. The document authorises the university to conduct research on plant genetic resources in the area, including their "intangible components" such as traditional knowledge of the Yanomami about them. In the contract, it is stipulated that the indigenous groups which collaborate in the research process will receive 30% of the cost of the contract. The Ministry of Environment will get 20% though rights to royalties, patents and commercial benefits derived from the outcome of the research. Guevara stressed that the Organisation of Indigenous Peoples of Amazonas does not approve the contract because it is yet another form of plunder of their lands, this time exploiting biodiversity and the traditional knowledge of the communities. Neither of these can be patented, according to an agreement among the peoples of the Amazon Basin. Guevara said that the contract is based on Decision 391 of the Cartagena Agreement, which has not been regulated through national legislation. How does this affect the Yanomami as a community? "It affects us because they're planning to patent our knowledge, and the benefits that we are supposed to get from this are not clear. This knowledge, this information, is the collective property of our peoples, not the property of a foreign company." What is clear to Guevara is that the contract does not take account of the Yanomami peoples. It is important to bear in mind that there is no national legislation on this issue, given that the Law on Biological Diversity was approved by Congress last year but President Rafael Caldera sent it back to the Solicitor General's office, not to Congress. As a supporting document for the access contract, the Directorate for Indigenous Affairs of the Ministry of Education had issued a permit signed by Horacio Biord as Acting Director. The contract also leans on an agreement between the Central University of Venezuela and its own School of Anthropology. Another permit that forms part of the contract involves the Director of Plants of Marnr, Delfina Rodriguez. This permit allows collecting of medicinal plants in a very specific area of Amazonas under very clear conditions which require samples to be deposited in a national herbarium. None of these documents annexed to the contract mention any possibility of filing patents or commercialising the results of the discoveries based on Yanomami pharmacopoeia. However, the final contract does stipulate that both commercialisation and patenting should be anticipated and will be valid. The Director of Plants of Marnr, Delfina Rodriguez, insists that the Swiss institution has complied with all the requirements necessary for the approval of the contract. She is surprised that the communities are complaining, since "The contract identifies a certain amount of benefits, even economic ones, that will go to the Yanomami." _________________________________________________________ ABOUT THIS LISTSERVER -- BIO-IPR is an irregular listserver put out by Genetic Resources Action International (GRAIN). Its purpose is to circulate information about recent developments in the field of intellectual property rights related to biodiversity & associated knowledge. BIO-IPR is a strictly non-commercial and educational service for nonprofit organisations and individuals active in the struggle against IPRs on life. The views expressed in each post are those of the indicated author(s). HOW TO PARTICIPATE -- To get on the mailing list, send the word "subscribe" (no quotes) as the subject of an email message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. To get off the list, send the word "unsubscribe" instead. To submit material to the list, address your message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. A note with further details about BIO-IPR is sent to all subscribers. ABOUT GRAIN -- For general information about GRAIN, you may visit our website http://www.grain.org or send an email to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.
