Trade-related intellectual property rights to biological resources: Socioeconomic implications for developing countries

The Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade proposed conferring trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPS) to international firms on a variety of life forms and on biotechnology. This proposal has been denounced by developing countries. Many developing countries have relied heavily on indigenous biotechnology from several decades in the area of high-yielding seeds, bio-pesticides and fertilizers, herbal medicines and household consumables. This study analyzes the social, economic, and preservation implications of TRIPS for three types of biological resources: physically nonexhaustible resources, physically exhaustible resources under current use, and physically exhaustible potential future resources. The study concludes that each of these resources may require different degrees of intellectual property right (IPR) protection for their sustained use. Further, establishing IPR to products derived from genetic and biochemical resources is certainly necessary but not sufficient for biodiversity prospecting and the long-term survival of these resources. Along with the IPR protection, developing countries have to develop suitable institutions and policies, governing the use of their open-access biological resources, and enabling local communities to receive partial benefits of biodiversity conservation and prospecting.