ISDS Case Map
biodiversity | biopiracy
The government of Oscar Arias knew, in advance, when and how the Constitutional Court would vote on the bill to implement CAFTA, after being challenged in a first review by the judges, according to Wikileaks
The EU proposes that the parties be empowered to collaborate on the practical implementation of domestic rules regulating access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, innovations, and practices on their territories, so as to guarantee compliance with those provisions. This is a case of interference with national sovereignty, unquestionably for the benefit of European pharmaceutical corporations.
While the Andean countries initially called for a balance to be struck between IPRs and the Andean countries’ interests – in particular education, culture, research, access to medicines, public health, food security, environmental protection, access to information, and technology transfer – Europe has insisted on measures to further entrench the intellectual property protection aspects of regional integration.
According to Latin American trade unions and organisations, patenting has had devastating consequences for biological diversity in several Latin American countries. Yet neither the patent rules proposed in the association agreement between the EU and Central America nor the bilateral trade negotiations taking place between the EU and Colombia and Peru have taken account of such criticism.
After generic drugmakers, it's the farmers who are feeling the heat of the intellectual property (IP) regime.
The recent patenting of a Thai rice gene will pave the way for overseas firms to obtain copyrights of Thai biological and genetic resources, intellectual property rights experts and farmer advocates warn.
“Since April 9, an uprising has been occurring in the Peruvian countryside involving the Amazonian indigenous peoples from 1350 communities and a diversity of ethnicities”, said legendary peasant leader, Hugo Blanco in an important message. A translation of Blanco's appeal for solidarity with this so-far mostly unreported struggle is printed below.
With Nicaragua leaving the negotiation table, the 7th round of negotiations between the EU and Central America has been suspended. With this, the aggressive policies of he EU have been brought to a halt for the time being.
The United States has done it, and done it again. As part of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Peru, the US has managed to wrest an amendment in the existing Intellectual Property laws that virtually 'facilitates biopiracy and hamper Peru's position as a protector of traditional knowledge,' reports SciDev.net
The proposed EU-Asean free trade policy on intellectual property rights protection is too sweeping, says a consumer group.
