In the Urubamba valley at the city of Cusco, Peru, a group of experts, parliamentarians and environmental authorities belonging to the members of the Group of Action of Like Minded Megadiverse Countries, as well as observers representing some international organizations, held a meeting to exchange ideas and experiences on access to genetic resources, traditional knowledge and intellectual property.

As a result of the presentations and debates, the following fundamental aspects of interest for the Group of Action of Like-minded Megadiverse Countries are detailed below:

1) The access to genetic resources must take place within the framework of comprehensive policies on conservation and sustainable use, that should include inventories on biodiversity, information management systems, business development and strategic planning, and investment in science and technology. This would guarantee turning access into a development tool and a mechanism contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.

2) The Group acknowledged the inseparable relationship between cultural diversity and biodiversity, as well as the need to emphasize this fact at international fora.

3) To facilitate the implementation of access regimes, these regimes must be structured with simplicity and flexibility in order to reduce transaction costs, promote access, guarantee fair benefit sharing, and contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

4) Regarding bioprospecting, the Group valued the experience of some research and bio-technological development firms in megadiverse countries, pointing out the need and convenience of building alliances and joint ventures between these firms, research institutions, local institutions and populations, where the participation of actors from the country of origin is deemed essential.

5) Regarding intellectual property, the Group highlighted the importance of current debates within WTO in which considerations regarding disclosure of origin and prior informed consent are introduced. Also the Group stressed its concern about the ongoing debates about intellectual property at WIPO , whose objective is to establish a single and homogenous patent system, under the concept of legislative harmonization. The Group of Megadiverse Countries must insist on the fact that these IPR have historically been and must continue to be a tool to promote industrial, scientific and technological development, and must spread such information, especially in developing countries. Thus, the debates on the protection of traditional knowledge and the definition of sui generis systems are only a part of a larger global negotiation involving all economic sectors in our countries.

6) The Group stressed the importance of participating as Group of Action of Like Minded Megadiverse Countries in the debates conducted by WIPO on the Patents Treaty, the Substantive Patent Law Treaty and the Patent Cooperation Treaty, taking into consideration the debates that will conclude this year at the intergovernmental committee on access to genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore.

7) The Group also stressed the need to assess the impact of intellectual property on biodiversity and on the possibilities of megadiverse countries to have access to technologies and markets, as well as to promote innovation, including the development of traditional knowledge, among others.

8) The Group emphasized on the need of strengthening its coordination capacity in order to define joint positions and promote coherence and complementarity among treaties and decisions of international fora dealing on matter of access to genetic resources and the protection of traditional knowledge.

9) The Group stressed the importance of establishing networks to promote the exchange of information on access to genetic resources, traditional knowledge and IPR, as a measure to prevent the non authorized or illegal use of such resources, especially biopiracy practices.

10) The Group decided to promote investments and to explore the possibility of establishing economic alliances among Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries in matters of access as a mechanism to ensure fair benefit sharing.

11) The Group decided to promote the implementation of the Megadiverse Countries’s Fund to finance its activities, as well as to define a financing strategy.

12) The Group decided to analyze the impact of the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture on access to genetic resources, especially with regard to the ex situ collections in international centers.

Likewise, the following actions were agreed upon:

a) The Group of Megadiverse Countries should lead a process to develop a certificate of legal provenance of genetic resources to ensure that the requirements established in Article 15 of the CBD have been complied with. A proposal for the use of this certificate in procedures for granting IPRs should also be developed.

The Group should also lead a process to develop a sui generis regime for the protection of traditional knowledge and explore, adjust and promote existing forms of intellectual property that may also be effective options for the protection of traditional knowledge.

b) To define and present joint positions in the different international negotiation fora related to the issues of access to genetic resources, traditional knowledge and intellectual property, particularly the 5th WTO Ministerial Meeting, considering that the Trade and Environment Committees, the TRIPS Council and WTO´s Negotiation Committee shall take concrete proposals to the said meeting; and also joint positions to the CBD Intersessional Meeting (MYPOW) that will take place in Montreal in March 2003 and the 7th Conference of the Parties to the CBD in Kuala Lumpur in 2004.

c) To organize the 3th Meeting of the Like Minded Megadiverse Countries Group in Malaysia at the end of February 2003, so as to define rules of procedure, the action plan and the group´s organizational mechanisms.

d) To establish a cooperation and exchange network among the Megadiverse Countries Group to strengthen their scientific, technological, administrative and managerial capacities regarding biodiversity resources, joint research and development projects implementation with genetic resources and exchange of scientific information and experiences, among others;

e) To value UNEP´s initiative on access and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of biological diversity, to deepen its evaluation and to expect this initiative to contribute to the work and the objectives of Megadiverse Countries. Additionally to consider UNEP´s project on capacity building so as to undertake the necessary consultations to endorse it before submitting to GEF.

f) To review the PDF-A project submitted by UNDP for the creation for a “Megadiverse Countries Cooperation Fund”, in order to undertake the necessary consultations to endorse it before submitting to GEF.

g) To explore possible cooperation and funding options with international Organizations and other institutions.

Finally, the participants agreed to thank the Peruvian Government’s hospitality in organizing such an important workshop, as well as UNEP’s valuable cooperation to that end.