ISDS Case Map
biodiversity | biopiracy
Thailand stands to lose even more valuable genetic resources if the country signs the Free Trade Area agreement with the United States in its present form. The FTA would allow the US easier access to Thailand's genetic resources, said Tewolde Berhan, an Ethiopian expert on biodiversity.
Report of the US government's Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (ITAC-15)
Traditional knowledge has come up in a dozen or so FTA drafting processes over the last couple of years. In half of those cases, specific provisions on traditional knowledge were signed.
Differences over pharmaceuticals could be overcome, but the countries are far from reaching a common understanding on biodiversity issues.
Opponents of a free trade area (FTA) agreement with the US have lashed out at the government's proposed amendment of Thai patent law to facilitate the United States' patenting of drugs and living organisms in Thailand. They fear it would lead to greater control of the country's resources by American firms.
US proposal on 'patents' and on 'measures related to certain regulated products' for negotiation with Thailand under the IPR chapter of the current US-Thailand FTA talks.
Critics argue that the biodiversity provisions in the US-Peru FTA do not improve the status quo to effectively tackle concerns over misappropriation of biodiversity and TK.
Civil society sector is demanding that the Thai government not give in on reduction of tariffs for US agricultural product, not ratify the treaty on plant varieties protection, and not recognise patenting of biological resources. In addition, they said the Thai government must resist the US demand to extend protection of pharmaceutical patent to more than 20 years or to protect data exclusivity.
The three Andean countries currently negotiating a free trade agreement with the United States, in their double capacity as signatories to the CBD and members of the group of biologically “mega-diverse” countries, are demanding that the agreement establish regulations that clearly specify the terms of access to genetic resources and the population's traditional knowledge, and in which proper economic consideration, conservation, and development act as guiding principles.
An agreement by Peru to accept US demands on protecting intellectual property rights, including protections for pharmaceutical test data found in other US free trade agreements, paved the way for a final deal on a US-Peru FTA.
