“We didn’t get the permit” to export the wasp, said Fabian Haas, head of the Biosystematics Support Unit at the Kenya-based International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology.
He was trying to bring the wasps from Sri Lanka to Kenya to fight the fruit flies which made the same journey accidentally in 2003 and are now ravaging mangoes in Africa. Seems unfair. Maybe the CBD’s meeting in Japan in October will sort it all out. Or maybe not.
It is always difficult to assess situations on the basis of press reports, and sometimes protagonists who may or may not know the rules of the game and may or may not have used the right instruments and procedures.
This being said, however, the report illustrates the failure of the Convention on Biological Diversity, originally conceived as an instrument to serve the “biologically-rich South” against the “technology-rich North” in the context of a South-South issue.
Article 12, research and training; provides that “The Contracting Parties, taking into account the special needs of developing countries, shall: […] (b) Promote and encourage research which contributes to the […] sustainable use of biological diversity, particularly in developing countries […]”
Article 15, on access to genetic resources [note that it is “genetic”, not “biological”] requires Contracting Parties to “endeavour to create conditions to facilitate access to genetic resources for environmentally sound uses by other Contracting Parties and not to impose restrictions that run counter to the objectives of this Convention.”
In this instance and subject to the above caveat , these provisions remain a dead letter.
The Reuters article is simply flabbergasting. Its title says, the “farm pest blitz may be [note the ubiquitous “may be” here] aided by biodiversity plan”; so far, it is definitely hampered .
The ITPGRFA, though not perfect (a major deficiency being that it has not been applied to all cultivated plants), and the UPOV Convention with its “breeder’s exemption” (which mandates free access to a protected variety for purposes of breeding other varieties) are much better.
The polluter should pay.
In specie(s).