The Impact of intellectual property rights and trade-related issues on biological diversity

This paper focuses on the response of the international community to the need to conserve biodiversity of genetic resources and ensure that they are developed in a sustainable manner within an internationally sanctioned and enforceable legal framework. It gives an overview of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and examines in some detail the provisions in the CBD that are particularly relevant to the protection of intellectual property rights, namely, those dealing with access and benefit sharing and the transfer of technologies and the protection of traditional knowledge under Article 8j. The paper then explores the relationship between the WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and the CBD and the latter's impact on biological diversity.11 page(s