Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 1 • Number 3 • 20th December 2001
Resources
If you have a relevant resource (books, papers, bulletins, etc.) you would like to see announced in this section, please forward a copy or review by the BRIDGES staff to hbaumuller@ictsd.ch. Submissions of publications to ICTSD’s documentation centre would also be welcome (contact Matteo Rizzolli).
ENVIRONMENTAL TRADE DISPUTES AND THE WTO, by P.K Rao. Published by Pinninti Publishers, May 2001. This book examines the impact of international trade on the global environment, and the conflicts and case studies in the resolution of international trade disputes arising from national attempts to protect the environment, and proposes principles for the resolution of trade-environment conflicts under the WTO regime. For further information, contact: Pinninti Publishers, 86 Sycamore Court, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648, USA; fax (1-609)-912-0737, email: pkrao@att.net; Internet: http://www.pinnintipublishers.com/#ETD_and_WTO.
"Indian seed bill forges new ground", by KS Jayaraman, in NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY, October 2001, pp 895-896. The paper describes and investigates new seed legislation in India and foresees that the new legislation will set a precedent for developing countries. In a move designed to encourage agbiotech innovation but prevent multinational companies from controlling the country’s seed business, India has introduced new seed legislation that protects the rights of both plant breeders and farmers, according to the author. As such, the Plant Variety Protection and Farmers Rights Bill, which was passed by Parliament on 9 August, sets a precedent for developing countries. The paper is available online.
"Protecting Asia’s Most Valuable Resource", Seedling, Vol 18, No 4, GRAIN Publications, 2001. The article discusses the implications of recent developments in relation to the US company RiceTec’s patent claims on Basmati rice. The article is available at http://www.grain.org/publications/seed-01-12-3-en.cfm
"Biotechnology and Development: A balance between IPR protection and benefit-sharing", by Jan Wendt and Juan Izquierdo in ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY, Vol 4, Issue 3, Valparaiso, 2001. This paper describes the international framework for intellectual property rights (IPRs) related to genetic resources and the access to these resources, and deals further with the following questions: How do governments apply these concepts at national level in Latin America and the Caribbean? How do they get the balance right between protection of IPRs of innovations, access to genetic resources and the fair distribution of benefits? The paper is available at http://www.ejb.org/content/vol4/issue3/issues/01/index.html
PROTECT OR PLUNDER? UNDERSTANDING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS. By Vandana Shiva, Published by Zed Books, December 2001. The author argues that the Western-inspired and unprecedented widening of the concept of intellectual property does not in fact stimulate human creativity and the generation of knowledge. Instead, in the view of the author, it is being exploited by transnational corporations to increase their profits at the expense of the health of ordinary people especially the poor, and the age-old knowledge of the world’s farmers. For further information, please contact: Mohammed Umar, Zed Books; tel: (44-20) 7837-4014, fax: 7833-3960; email: sales@zedbooks.demon.co.uk; Internet: http://zedweb.hypermart.net/cats/winter2001ws.htm
"Bilateralism in Intellectual Property" by Peter Drahos, commissioned by OXFAM, October 2001, 17 pp. The report examines the way in which bilateral trade negotiations (Bilateral Investment Treaties and Bilateral Intellectual Property Agreements) are resulting in more extensive protection for intellectual property than that set out in the WTO TRIPS Agreement. It uses examples of recent US/EU negotiations with countries such as Nicaragua, Jordan, and Mexico. The report is available online at http://www.oxfam.org.uk/policy/papers/bilateral/bilateral.html.
"Lords of the Harvest: Biotech, Big Money, and the Future of Food" by Charles, D., Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: Perseus Publishing, 2001. This book chronicles the appearance of genetically engineered crops and demonstrates the tremendous motivations and controversy surrounding the industry today. For further information, visit http://members.bellatlantic.net/~charles5/
Electronic Resources
NEW WWF WEBSITE ON SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENTS (SAS) AND TRADE. The new website addresses the potential economic, developmental and environmental implications of trade and investment agreements. Available at: http://www.panda.org/balancedtrade. For further information, please contact: Mireille Perrin, tel: (+41-22) 364-9026. Claudia Saladin, tel: (1-202) 778-9774
NEW WEBSITE OF THE ETC GROUP. The Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (ETC, formerly RAFI) has launched a new website (http://www.etcgroup.org) that allows users to search for ETC group publications by type (Communiqué, Genotype, News Release, Occasional Papers and Others) as well as find news and information organised by 16 key topics, including biodiversity & genetic resources, human rights / farmers’ rights, biotechnology and intellectual property & patents. ETC group is dedicated to the conservation and sustainable advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human rights. To this end, ETC group supports socially responsible developments of technologies useful to the poor and marginalised and it addresses international governance issues and corporate power.
POSITION VACANCY
RESEARCH FELLOW. The Centre for Philosophy of Law is seeking a Research Fellow to work on its Biodiversity empirical investigation and related theoretical issues on international regimes. Research will focus on the mechanisms of intellectual property rights as organised by the UPOV convention in order to meet its objectives with regard to the protection of biodiversity and its interaction with other international regimes such as WTO, UPOV, FAO’s International Undertaking and the Biodiversity Convention.
Research Fellow candidates must have a PhD or equivalent degree (e.g: ScD, JD, doctorate) in a relevant academic discipline or be very close to completing their degree, with solid training in theory and research methodology. Duties include collaborative project planning, research drafting. The position requires written and verbal communication skills and the ability to work effectively in a multi-disciplinary team. It is a 12 months fellowship with the possibility of renewal (from one to four years). Fellowship — depending on experience and qualification — includes full social and healthcare protection. The position is available now and may be filled promptly; applications will be screened as they arrive. Candidates should send a letter of application, curriculum vitae, and writing sample to: Professor Jacques Lenoble, Director of the Centre, Centre for Philosophy of Law, Collage Thomas More, Place Montesquieu, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, or by email to Lenoble@cpdr.ucl.