Misappropriation of traditional knowledge, associated with genetic resources, has generated significant concern in recent years. Achieving coherence and mutual supportiveness between the TRIPS Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has been identified by many countries as a key element to address this problem.
ICTSD’s work in this area has sought to examine concrete proposals to achieve this, in particular the introduction of a disclosure of origin requirement. It has also actively followed ongoing discussions in several fora, including the WTO TRIPS Council, the CBD, and WIPO’s Intergovernmental Working Group on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) with a view to fostering progress towards a shared international understanding on the protection of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions against misappropriation and misuse.