New support for the WTO Biodiversity Amendment

William Modisakeng

Fifty least-developed countries have now signed in support of the proposed amendment. Of the fifty countries, thirty two are in the WTO. The newly proposed Article 29bis to the 1994 TRIPS agreement aims to protect genetic resources and traditional knowledge from developing countries. This proposal will make TRIPS consistent with the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CDB).

A similar proposal is now one of the high priority issues on the WIPO development agenda.  The difficulty which may possibly arise in implementing the proposal at WIPO, would be renegotiating the PCT Treaty and acquiring full consensus from all WIPO member countries.

These developments are particularly interesting in view of the Patents Amendment Act 20 of 2005 (the Act), which provides for the filing of a Statement on the use indigenous biological resources, genetic resources, and traditional knowledge or use (Form P.26) as a documentary requirement for South African patent applications. Although the amendment has to date not been promulgated, it makes South Africa almost readily compliant with the newly proposed amendment to TRIPS.