Lima, September 29, 2004. The General Secretariat of the Andean Community (CAN) and the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (OTCA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding today to launch a joint work program with respect to water resources, forest and biodiversity and to promote specific actions to boost bio-commerce and to combat bio-piracy.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Andean Community Secretary General, Ambassador Allan Wagner Tizón, and by Rosalía Arteaga Serrano, OTCA Secretary General, in a ceremony attended by ambassadors from the Amazon Area countries.

Wagner indicated that the General Secretariats of the CAN and OTCA have decided to join efforts and work together in three areas: water, taking into account that the Amazon basin has 20% of this strategic resource in the world; management, preservation and sustainable use of forest; and biodiversity.

He noted that actions will be promoted in the short term, concerning bio-commerce, where CAN has made important progress, as well as to combat bio-piracy, to prevent unscrupulous persons from extracting bio-genetic resources, taking them and obtaining patents on them.

"Our aim is to jointly monitor and to create an international system to regulate access to genetic resources, with special emphasis on the protection of the traditional knowledge of indigenous people", he remarked.

He announced that one of the actions of the CAN and OTCA will be to have a joint position at the Conference of Contracting Parties of the International Convention on Biodiversity, to be held in Brazil in 2006, where a comprehensive review will be made of the progress made on the execution of this international instrument.

"The Andean Strategy on Biodiversity has placed Andean countries at the leading edge in this area. A new boost must be given to international commitments on matters relating to preservation and sustainable exploitation of our biogenetic wealth", stated Wagner.

In turn, Rosalía Arteaga noted that this agreement represents a sample of what the work of an integration process can do. "When we speak of Amazon Area countries, which the Andean countries form part of, we are talking about more than 7 million square kilometers, 20% of fresh water reserves and over 50% of the Andean area", she informed.

She further stated that she was sure that this joint work will make it possible to contribute to the preservation of the Amazon region’s rich natural heritage and to promote it in line with sustainable development principles.

Finally, she underscored the coincidence of the CAN and OTCA as far as interests and priorities are concerned, such as integration, sustainable development, preservation of biodiversity and natural resources.