Convention on biological diversity

4. Recommendations

During the course of this project, researchers and representatives from industry and academia were asked for their recommendations on ways to improve the ABS policy process. A range of invaluable recommendations relating to ABS in general, and ABS and industry in particular, have also emerged in the literature, but these will not be repeated here³⁹.

1. 
   Undertake national consultations that comprehensively and overtly address the range of issues that touch upon or underlie ABS – eg patenting of life forms, relationships with external companies, implications of new biotechnology – and tease out the distinct concerns associated with each, and their relationship to ABS frameworks.
   

2. 
   Define biopiracy and what would constitute acceptable bioprospecting activites.
   

3. 
   Clarify the types of activities ABS measures regulate.
   

4. 
   Identify the objectives ABS measures are intended to serve – eg biodiversity conservation, scientific and technological development - and develop a strategy for achieving them
   

5. 
   Improve capacity within government to address these issues, including understanding of the scientific and technological, market, and legal aspects of bioprospecting and the industries of which it is a part.
   

6. 
   Improve the capacity of national focal points, clarifying their roles and responsibilities, and ensure that individuals with relevant scientific, commercial and other expertise are part of the staff, and part of national ABS policy dialogues.
   

7. 
   Clarify expectations for permitting (time to process, content of application, requests for additional information, criteria by which applications will be judged, etc.) and identify the ways PIC is to be sought from groups outside of government.
   

8. 
   Promote the role of research institutions as intermediaries between companies and providers, and brokers of permitting and PIC procedures.
   

9. 
   Build domestic capacity and infrastructure to support higher levels of scientific collaboration, and to maximize the gains from bioprospecting partnerships.
   

10. 
    Create a legal and scientific environment receptive to research and commercial partnerships, including providing legal certainty to users adhering to national laws.
    

11. 
    Avoid a ‘one-size fits all’ approach to ABS measures, taking into account the diversity in user industries, including differences in research and development, the value of genetic resources to industry R&D, the types of commercial products that result, and the profitability of products.
    

12. 
    Retain flexibility to allow laws to adapt to the rapid scientific and technological change that characterize industries using genetic resources. Use a ‘stepwise’ approach to ABS law and development and keep the permitting and regulatory process simple and predictable.
    

13. 
    Don’t lock companies into a commercial agreement and a predetermined set of benefits at the earliest stages of discovery, but rather provide indicative benefits, or a package of benefits triggered by different stages in the R&D and commercialization process. A research agreement might cover the discovery phase, for example, followed by a commercial agreement triggered by patents or selection of an agent for development.
    

14. 
    Distinguish between academic and commercial research in regulations, with different levels of complexity in agreements, and different expectations associated with benefit-sharing.
    

15. 
    Do not sacrifice the invaluable benefits of scientific collaboration, or academic research on biodiversity, out of fear that commercial research cannot be adequately regulated or monitored.
    

16. 
    Promote transparency and partnerships, rather than illegal collecting. Byzantine regulatory frameworks and mistrust do not appear to deter the more unscrupulous collectors and only serve to put off more responsible companies.
    

17. 
    Promote more involved partnerships between domestic research institutions and companies, as a way of ensuring more significant benefits and – particularly in light of advances in synthetic chemistry and the increasing focus on microorganisms – more effectively monitoring commercial activities.
    

18. 
    Bring more individuals from trade and industry, and academic scientists with experience in these fields, onto delegations to the CBD.
    

1. 
   Build the capacity of national focal points to provide information (eg corporate policies, standardized contracts, information on ABS measures) and technical assistance to researchers and companies. National focal points might also collaborate across regions to ensure more effective use of limited resources.
   

2. 
   Promote the involvement of companies and industry associations⁴⁰, and academic researchers working in these fields, in the CBD policy process. This might include actively soliciting their feedback and input on ABS issues prior to key meetings.
   

ANNEX