Latest developments in biodiscovery

There are currently a number of work streams feeding into the development of a biodiscovery policy for New Zealand.  As well as Phase 2b of consultation and engagement activity, a New Zealand biodiscovery stocktake and international comparison of national access and benefit sharing regimes are being conducted. 

WAI 262 report released

On 2 July 2011 the Waitangi Tribunal released the report on WAI 262 entitled Ko Aotearoa Tēnei.

A summary and the report itself can be downloaded from the Waitangi Tribunal's website.

The report makes recommendations on a range of subjects including:

• the genetic and biological resources of taonga species
• the conservation estate
• intellectual property 

The Attorney-General, who will be leading the government's response to the report, issued a statement following the launch of the report.

Read the Attorney-General's statement

International comparison of national access and benefit sharing regimes

An international comparison of national biodiscovery regimes has been undertaken.  The aim of this international comparison is to provide a better understanding of how different countries treat specific aspects of biodiscovery in their national regimes (e.g. the treatment of prior informed consent, traditional knowledge, etc).

This provides examples of what a New Zealand biodiscovery national regime could look like.  It also provides examples of what has worked and what hasn’t worked in other countries, particularly countries who share similarities with New Zealand in their biodiversity profiles. 

This report is intended to be kept ‘alive’ as access and benefit sharing regimes are developed in other countries.  The second version of the report (February 2011) is available below.

• Domestic Access and Benefit Sharing Regimes International Comparison [1.3 MB PDF]

International access and benefit sharing protocol finalised

At the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) held in Nagoya, Japan, from 18-30 October 2010, the Nagoya Protocol on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from their utilization was finalised and adopted, marking the end of 8 years of negotiation. 

The Nagoya Protocol, a supplementary treaty, aims to give effect to the third objective of the CBD, namely “the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources”.

Developing an international regime on ABS for genetic resources is one of the elements of the CBD which came out of the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Negotiations on ABS have been taking place for a number of years with the aim of establishing international rules for accessing genetic resources. 

The Protocol, a legally-binding instrument, sets out rules governing access to genetic resources, and seeks to ensure that any benefits that arise from the utilisation of genetic resources are fairly and equitably shared with the provider of the genetic resources.  Activities relating to accessing and benefiting from genetic resources are commonly referred to as bioprospecting or biodiscovery.

New Zealand has been actively engaged in these negotiations, and the delegation has generally comprised officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (lead agency), the Ministry of Economic Development and Te Puni Kokiri.

Adoption of the Protocol at COP10 merely confirmed the final text and has no effect on New Zealand’s international obligations.  The Protocol will come into force after it has been ratified or accepted by 50 Parties.  A decision as to whether New Zealand becomes a party to the protocol rests with cabinet and will be made in due course in accordance with the usual treaty-making process.

• Read the full text of the protocol [147 kB DOC]

Latest Panui

The latest Panui contains information on biodiscovery and how to join the mailing list.

• Read the latest Panui

New Zealand Biodiscovery Stocktake

The biodiscovery stocktake aims to investigate the scope of biodiscovery activity in New Zealand, and what agreements currently govern these activities.  This will help to inform the development of a monitoring strategy and ultimately a domestic biodiscovery regime for New Zealand.

The stocktake consist of two main parts;

• A desk study from publicly available sources identifying current biodiscovery activities, who is conducting them and who they are partnering with and;
• A survey of users and access providers to see what access and benefit sharing arrangements are in place and to identify risks and opportunities for New Zealand in this area.

The executive summary of the desk study element of the stocktake will be available shortly. 

For a full copy of the stocktake email bioprospecting@med.govt.nz