ENDOGENOUS LIVESTOCK DEVELOPMENT
Preparing for Interlaken
they have to pay a license fee for every new calf or lamb born in their sta-
bles?
to apply to animal genetic resources a term that covers everything from
individual genes to whole animal breeds.
will be held in Interlaken, Switzerland, in the first week of September 2007.
Sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) and the Swiss government, this conference will discuss , this confer-
ence will discuss how to go about managing animal genetic resources in a
long-term sustainable manner
to analyse its implications for the sustainable use of animal genetic re-
sources. One study in 2005 concluded that intellectual property rights (IPR)
"are not a major concern, at present, in maintaining farm animal diversity.
In the animal sector, technological resources and contractual practices,
rather than formal IPR strategies have been the norm".
discussions at the Interlaken conference, changes all this. Paragraph 12 of
the draft states: "We recognize that access to and the sharing of both, ani-
mal genetic resources and technologies, are essential for meeting world
food security and the needs of the growing world population and must be
facilitated... Such access and transfer shall be provided on terms that rec-
ognize and are consistent with the adequate and efficient protection of
intellectual property rights" (emphasis added).
along with various non-government organizations, have so far rejected any
types of intellectual property rights on living organisms. Their slogan is "no
patents on life". Just recently, Greenpeace and several other NGOs have
highlighted patent applications on pig-breeding by Monsanto, a multina-
tional agricultural firm. The German Veterinary Council has sharply criti-
cized a patent granted by the European Patent Office for cows that have
been genetically engineered to produce more milk. The Council fears that
high-performing cows have already been pushed to their physiological lim-
ernment and inter-governmental
organizations, researchers, live-
stock keepers and the private
sector from 17 countries met in
Bellagio, Italy, from 27 March to 2
April 2006, to discuss issues re-
lated to livestock biodiversity,
indigenous knowledge and intel-
lectual property rights.
participants issued the Bellagio
Brief. Here is an excerpt:
esses and individual genes may
restrict the rights of the communi-
ties and individuals to breed,
manage and use their livestock
as they choose, thus posing a
threat to the viability and contin-
ued development of the breeds.
Livestock keepers' inherent rights
to continue to use and develop
their own breeding stock and
breeding practices should be
acknowledged. National govern-
ments must recognize these
rights, acknowledge livestock
keepers' contribution to national
economies, and adapt their poli-
cies and legal frameworks ac-
cordingly. This is particularly im-
portant to pre-empt attempts to
use the intellectual property sys-
tem to obtain control over animal
resources that are an important
component of the world's food
supply."
bellagio/bellagio_brief.htm