Welcome to the IOBC Global Symposium:

Biological control: Benefit Sharing and the balance between benefits and risks

Organizers: Jacques Brodeur & Peter Mason (Canada), Barbara Barratt (NZ), George Heimpel (USA), Helen Roy (UK)

IOBC is the only worldwide organization representing biological control in global, regional and national organizations for more than 50 years

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WILL ACCESS AND BENEFIT SHARING PROCEDURES IMPEDE BIOLOGICAL CONTROL? THE PROBLEM

Barbara Barratt – AgResearch, NZJacques Brodeur – University of Montreal, Canada

XXIV International Congress of Entomology, Daegu, South Korea, Aug 2012 Section 14

OUTLINE

Objectives and purpose of the CBD

Main player, parties, stakeholders

Bonn Guidelines and Nagoya Protocol on ABS

Expectations created

Consequences for biocontrol

The IOBC response

OUTLINE

Objectives and purpose of the CBD

Main player, parties, stakeholders

Bonn Guidelines and Nagoya Protocol on ABS

Expectations created

Consequences for biocontrol

The IOBC response

OBJECTIVES OF THE CBDThe objectives of the CBD are:• the conservation of biological diversity• the sustainable use of its components (genetic resources)• the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits

Article 15: Access to Genetic Resources (GR)Recognizing the sovereign rights of States over their natural resources, the authority to determine access to GR rests with the national governments and is subject to national legislation

Access to GR shall be on mutually agreed terms (MAT) and subject to prior informed consent (PIC) of the Contracting Party providing the resources

GENETIC RESOURCES “material containing functional units of heredity that is of actual or potential value”

• value = commercial, scientific or academic

May be (or be derived from) plants, animals or micro-organisms

Used for a variety of purposes from basic research to the development of commercial products

Various sectors are involved: cosmetics, biotechnology, agriculture, pharmaceuticals

THE VISION

“The vision was for countries and biodiversity, a win–win

situation. Over time it would spur scientific knowledge,

catalyze commercial production, protect species and enable

developing countries to undertake bioprospecting

themselves. It is akin to the teach a man to fish philosophy”

Boyd, R. 2010 Scientific American

EXAMPLES OF EXPLOITATION

“Brazilian pit viper venom was used to develop a blockbuster hypertension drug, but Brazil didn’t profit. A new treaty gives countries a stake in the use of their resources.”Science: 330: November 2010

The pharmaceutical company that patented neem argued that traditional Indian knowledge of its properties had never been published so was not previously existing knowledge. The patent was eventually overturned.

OUTLINE

Objectives and purpose of the CBD

Main player, parties, stakeholders

Bonn Guidelines and Nagoya Protocol on ABS

Expectations created

Consequences for biocontrol

The IOBC response

THE MAIN PLAYERSecretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity

• An entity of the United Nations• Created at Rio de Janiero in 1992

THE PARTIES TO CBD191 countries• excludes USA, Andorra, Iraq, Somalia…

Conference of the Parties (COP):

• National delegates meet every 2nd

year to make decisions• COP 10 Nagoya, Japan 2010

• COP 11 Hyderabad, India 2012

THE STAKEHOLDERSIndigenous people and NGOs

Conventions and Bodies - e.g. FAO, WTO, WIPO, TRIPS

Business organizations• International Chamber of Commerce

Scientific organizations• CBOL, GTI, IOBC

TRIPS

OUTLINE

Objectives and purpose of the CBD

Main player, parties, stakeholders

Bonn Guidelines and Nagoya Protocol on ABS

Expectations created

Consequences for biocontrol

The IOBC response

GUIDELINES

The Bonn guidelines (2002) have been adopted to facilitate the implemention of the principle of ABS:

• Each country must designate a competent national authority

• Access to GR is subject to prior informed consent (PIC)

• Access is granted subject to mutually agreed terms (MAT)

THE NAGOYA PROTOCOL AND ABS

It provides:• a legal framework for the effective implementation of fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of GR

• creates greater legal certainty and transparency for providers and users of GR by establishing more predictable conditions for access to GR

• covers traditional knowledge associated with GR and the benefits arising from its utilization

The Nagoya Protocol is a supplementary treaty to CBD. It is the instrument for the implementation of the ABS provisions of the CBD

Adopted at COP10 on the last day of negotiations in Nagoya, Japan at about 2am!

“Delegates cheer after the Nagoya Protocol was agreed on at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP10) Nagoya, Japan, October 30, 2010.”

“...talks in Nagoya were deadlocked until the early hours of Saturday after two weeks of talks.”

OUTLINE

Objectives and purpose of the CBD

Main player, parties, stakeholders

Bonn Guidelines and Nagoya Protocol on ABS

Expectations created

Consequences for biocontrol

The IOBC response

EXPECTATIONS OF EMERGING NATIONS

Many countries have seen ABS as “panacea against rampant biopiracy”

The assertion is:• GR are the raw material for the biotechnology, seed and

pharmaceutical industriesThe expectation:• GR are the key to economic

development and success in the future

The dream:• GR will become the

GREEN GOLD

CONSEQUENCES OF MISGUIDED IMPLEMENTATIONIn 2002, India adopted a ‘Biological Diversity Act’

• was seen to seriously curtail the freedom of scientists by putting draconian regulations on the free exchange of specimens for taxonomic use

• this situationhas now beenclarified in India

NON-COMMERCIAL USE OF GR

Article 8 Nagoya Protocol requires each Party to treat certain situations of ABS with special regard e.g. :

• Non-commercial research • Emergency cases in connection to human,

animal or plant health• GR for food and agriculture

It is implied that the regulatory requirements should create a ‘special regime’ for such situations

OUTLINE

Objectives and purpose of the CBD

Main player, parties, stakeholders

Bonn Guidelines and Nagoya Protocol on ABS

Expectations created

Consequences for biocontrol

The IOBC response

THE CONSEQUENCES FOR BC

The commercial BC sector were first to express concern:

• risk that ABS legislation will add another level of regulation• e.g. in addition to biosafety regulation

• could slow and even stop BC programmes

If ABS measures are implemented, it could mean that for every biological control initiative we would have to negotiate:

• prior informed consent, • mutually agreed terms• financial benefit-sharing

mechanisms

THE CONSEQUENCES FOR BC

Some countries are now making exploration for BCAs very difficult:

• Sri Lanka refused to allow export of BCA for mango fruit fly to Africa

• Peru blocked access to BCA for pea leaf miner in Europe

• Australia unable to send potential BCAs for Acacia from India to British Museum for taxonomic ID

THE CONSEQUENCES FOR BC

OUTLINE

Objectives and purpose of the CBD

Main player, parties, stakeholders

Bonn Guidelines and Nagoya Protocol on ABS

Expectations created

Consequences for biocontrol

The IOBC response

IOBC COMMISSION

IOBC established a Commission on BC and ABS (Nov 2008)

Funded by ‘FAO Commission on GR for Food and Agriculture’

Strong support from CABI

Purpose – to provide scientific advice to oversee the design of an ABS regime that ensures practical and effective management for the collection and use of BC agents, which is acceptable to all parties

IOBC COMMISSION

Meeting of IOBC Commission Mar 2009 ZurichFranz Bigler, Matthew Cock, Fernando Consoli, Jacques Brodeur, Barbara Barratt, Fabian Hass, Kim Tempelman (FAO), Joop van Lenteren, Alvaro Toledo (FAO), Peter Mason

Inset: José Roberto Parra, Karel Bolckmans

REPORT PRESENTED TO FAO (JUN 2009)

FAO promoted our report to the working group responsible for formulation of the international ABS regime

THE IOBC MESSAGEBCAs are different from other GR, such as seeds, pharmaceuticals and other commercial products

The ABS regime should therefore be based on a sectorial approach

Cock MJW, van Lenteren JC, Brodeur J, Barratt BIP, Bigler F, Bolckmans K, Cônsoli FL, Haas F, Mason PG, Parra JRP 2010. Do new access and benefit sharing procedures under the Convention on Biological Diversity threaten the future of biological control? Biocontrol 55: 199-218.

THE IOBC MESSAGEBC has depended upon reciprocal relationships and benefits

Many countries are both providers and users of BCAs

BCAs are exchanged between countries with little or no money changing hands

Example: • California was invaded by Icerya purchasi

• Rodalia beetle introduced from Australia for US$ 2000

• result – it saved the citrus industry

• now been introduced into 57 countries

THE IOBC MESSAGEAll countries can benefit – most do

BC creates and sustains public good so benefits mainly to the public, society, not the implementer

BCAs spread naturally, hard to contain

Financial gain to BC companies much smaller than the gain to society and the environment

THE IOBC MESSAGE

Huge opportunities for benefit-sharing:• shared research opportunities from survey

and exploration to BC research• provision of training• technology transfer• exchange of BCAs• royalties on commercial BCAs

ABS regulations should recognise the specific features of BC:

1. Countries providing BC agents are themselves also users of this technology

2. Many BC agents are exchanged, but have little recoverable monetary value

3. Organisms are not patented, so can be used by anyone at any time

4. Classical BC information and to a degree augmentative BC information are publicly shared

IOBC RECOMMENDATIONS

5. There are social benefits for all, such as environmental and public health benefits, and reduction in pesticide use

6. BC is widely used in both developing and developed countries, often using the same BC agents

7. Most use of BC relates to food and agriculture

IOBC RECOMMENDATIONS

In view of these features we recommended that ABS regulations should encourage:

• Existing practice of exchange of natural enemies for BC

• Establishment of a single point of contact in each country to facilitate all BC-related activities

• Transparency in the exchange of BC agents and access to information globally

• Provision for fast track access to BCAs in the case of a humanitarian or food security emergency

IOBC RECOMMENDATIONS

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

....make sure you are here for Jacques Brodeur’s presentation later in the session!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Our colleagues on the IOBC Commission:

Matthew Cock – CABI SwitzerlandJoop van Lenteren – Wageningen University

Franz Bigler – Agroscope, ZurichKarel Bolkmans – KoppertFabian Haas – Icipe, Kenya

Peter Mason – Agriculture and Agri-Food, CanadaJose Roberto Parra – Brazil

Fernando Consoli – ESAL/USP, Brazil

Funding:FAO

IOBC Global

http://www.iobc-global.org/