The most crucial point in this international treaty, which is sanctioned by 182 countries, is that the resource countries have the full right of ownership on their bio-resources, and consent from the respective resource countries must be gained for the use of their bio resources, thus making it impossible to have free access to foreign bio-resources.
In 2002, after NGOs in Indonesia made claims under CBD, major Japanese cosmetics makers were forced to forfeit 51 of their patented rights. On the other hand, companies from the West which had foreseen such issues have already begun organizing collaborations with agencies which have acquired CBD clearance.
Most of the cases brought to the attention of the CDB are usually cases pertaining Patents on traditional knowledge of medicinal herbs and handling of patented new original species resulting from genetic modification. Recently, it is a common practice to indicate the country of origin for relevant bio-resources in any patent application (In fact, the EU is in the process of enforcing this practice). In view of the stringent protection for bio-resources in resources countries, it is believed that the ownership rights to microorganisms will be the next topic of debate.
Referring back to the above, we are not only offering legal access to foreign bio-resources for the purpose of research, we are also offering the use of the facilities, including researchers and research equipments at our laboratories, and as well as the transfer of technological know-how on developing medicine and drugs from natural resources developed by Japanese researchers with extensive experience working in Japanese pharmaceutical companies, providing our clients with the best techniques to explore new and original beneficial compound at a low risk. |
