Holy See, September 12th: Marine Genetic Resources – Informal Session

Supports procedural suggestions for access to create an online registry, such as that suggested by the African Group and Tonga that would be simple to use, inexpensive, easily searchable, and secure. Public notice should not be required for the purpose of obtaining approval and no registration should be rejected except for insufficient information.

Reminds delegates that the CBD definition of a genetic resource means genetic material of actual or potential value. Requirement of public registration should apply to all states and nationals without regard to intent. Whether the registrant is a public or private entity, country, etc., should not be a consideration. Additional information should be required for a corporate entity, including address of headquarters. Registration fees, change fees, and search fees should be charged on a cost-recovery basis to meet administrative costs.

As suggested in the Mare Geneticum article that Algeria referenced, the concept of assigning a unique identifier to each MGR in order to track it could be helpful not only for purposes of determining access, but also for determining benefits. Strongly believe that providing the greatest access to genetic data, information and knowledge content arising from MGRs is vital to scientific advancement. The paradigm of importance of collecting samples has diminished as a result of the improvement of technology, which can effectively create a property right in the improved material. Whether this counts as a trade secret or gets a patent, the chain of access is difficult to break.

Believe that any attempt to include measures re: intellectual property rights in this agreement will not be fruitful.

Restrictive licensing can be used to limit the number of scientist to limit the number of people who can access data and research, to block others from research in a particular area, to keep others from using foundational discoveries in a particular field and block all other research that follows from it. Want to incentivize less-restrictive licensing practices.

Further details of the full intervention can be found in Papersmart once the statement has been filed.

UNTV link to Statement from Holy See, September 12th