This note provides preliminary observations on how the second drafts of the Ministerial Declaration and of the Implementation Decision address issues related to biodiversity. It examines developing countries’ concerns and concludes that both drafts fail to adequately address developmental considerations, and even raise new concerns. In summary, the new drafts fail to include many of the developing countries’ contributions and proposals, which have aimed at achieving recognition of the objectives and principles of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in the WTO. The drafts thus fail to increase potential for synergies among trade and biodiversity objectives.
The CBD is an international agreement for the conservation of biological diversity. The Convention’s objectives are the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources, including through appropriate access to genetic resources and through appropriate transfer of relevant technologies. These objectives are of crucial importance in particular for developing countries. Sustainable use of the biodiversity is warranted through the establishment of a system of access that permits control and preservation of the genetic resources, measurement of the environmental impact, existence of prior and informed consent by the host government and traditional communities, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits deriving from genetic resources.
This note will first present some general comments on the treatment of biodiversity related issues in the WTO context. It will then provide more specific comments on how the new drafts of the Doha Ministerial Declaration address biodiversity issues, specially in the preamble, in the Agreement on Trade related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) section, and in the new mandate of the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE). Also, some comments will be provided on the implementation text.