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Chiarolla, Claudio --- "Convention on Biological Diversity and regulatory law as plant protection" [2017] ELECD 812; in Matthews, Duncan; Zech, Herbert (eds), "Research Handbook on Intellectual Property and the Life Sciences" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 197

Book Title: Research Handbook on Intellectual Property and the Life Sciences

Editor(s): Matthews, Duncan; Zech, Herbert

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781783479443

Section: Chapter 11

Section Title: Convention on Biological Diversity and regulatory law as plant protection

Author(s): Chiarolla, Claudio

Number of pages: 17

Abstract/Description:

In international law, genetic resources, including plant genetic resources, only became the subject of a legally binding regulation with the adoption of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992.In particular, the CBD states that ‘the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources’ is one of its three objectives, alongside the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of its components.However, international cooperation on cross-border exchange and collection of plant genetic resources, as well as the ensuing eruption of a virulent political confrontation on the status of such resources at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) – notably, in the face of the expanding realm of intellectual property– started in the 1970s and predated the conclusion of the CBD.Since then, the technologies that have allowed us to harness the value of plant genetic resources and the information contained therein, including for research and breeding purposes, have come a very long way. They range from the breeding of climate-resilient cropsto new molecular technologies for their characterisation at the genetic level,from the systematic dematerialisation of plant genetic resources through initiatives such as DivSeekto RNA interference whereby external chemical inducers may be sprayed on crops to turn on or off a specific gene activity with a view to regulating gene expression.