UNU/IAS Report The International Regime for Bioprospecting Existing Policies and Emerging Issues for Antarctica This report was prepared by: Dagmar Lohan Sam Johnston We thank the following people for valuable contributions made: Mike Richardson Jill Barret Tony Poole Lyle Glowka Sarah Laird Glenys Parry Martin Smith The organisers and participants of the meeting “Bioprospecting in Antarctica” (an academic workshop) For further information, contact: United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU/IAS) 5–53–67 Jingumae, Shibuya–ku, Tokyo, 150–8304, Japan Tel +81–3–5467–2323, Fax +81–3–5467–2324 Email
[email protected], URL http://www.ias.unu.edu Copyright © 2003 UNU/IAS All Rights Reserved Design by Brechtje Zoet UNU/IAS Report The International Regime for Bioprospecting Existing Policies and Emerging Issues for Antarctica August 2003 Contents 1 Introduction 5 2 Review of Biological Prospecting Activities in Antarctica 6 3 Overview of Biological Prospecting Trends Elsewhere 9 3.1 General Industry Trends 9 3.2 Bioprospecting for Extremophiles 10 4 Bioprospecting and the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) 11 4.1 Legislative Background 11 4.2 Activities of ATS Bodies 13 5 International Policies Governing Bioprospecting Activities 15 5.1 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 15 5.2 The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 17 5.3 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) 18 5.4 International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture 19 5.5 The World Summit on Sustainable Development 19 6 Conclusion 20 7 Epilogue 22 Endnotes 23 1 Introduction An increasing amount of the scientific research on the flora and fauna of Antarctic is underway with a view to identifying commercially useful genetic and biochemical resources.