POSTER PAPER--#8--Access to Genetic Ressources, Traditional Knowledge and Benefit-Sharing: Law and Practice in Brazil and Kenya.

This project is centred on questions concerning research, bioprospecting and technological development related to genetic resources in Brazil and Kenya. It is based on an international and interdisciplinary cooperation on law, sociology and political science. It examines the role of legal and regulatory instruments related to the Provisional Measure 2.186-16 (MP) and Legal Notice No. 160 (2006), which introduces in Brazil and Kenya, respectively, the recommendations of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and establishes access to genetic heritage and other objects related to it. The CBD introduces a new international law over genetic resources, establishing a mechanism of exchange between countries with biotechnologies and those rich in biological diversity: For the first group of countries, access to genetic resources has to be facilitated (Art. 15(2)); for the second group, a fair sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources must be assured. Nonetheless, the recommendations of the CBD leave a set of problems unresolved. For example, as the CDB recognises the value of knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities (Art. 8j), it allows the claim of legal sui generis protection, which competes with intellectual property rights. The methodological approach focuses on the legal-administrative implementation of CDB, including a systematic examination of the bioprospecting projects, a legal analysis, case studies and interviews with the key actors involved, e.g. the CGEN (Genetic Heritage Management Council) in Brazil and NEMA (National Environmental Management Authority) in Kenya, indigenous peoples and representatives of companies. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]