Meeting on intellectual property rights and biodiversity

COICA and UNDP hosted a regional meeting in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia from 28-30th September 1994 to debate Intellectual Property Rights and Biodiversity. Present were representatives of the following Latin American Peoples Organisations: COICA (Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon Basin); CIDOB, Bolivia; CONFENIAE, Ecuador; CONIVE, Venezuela; ONIC, Colombia; COIAB, Brazil; AIDESP, Peru; APA, Guayana; OIS, Suriname; Consejo de todas las Tierras, Chile; AIRA, Argentina; and IIDEMAYA, Guatemala. Also represented were NGOs with an interest in IPR and biodiversity issues, such as the Rural Advancement Fund International (RAFI) and the Working Group on Traditional Resource Rights (WGTRR). The participants produced a consensus document expressing their views on IPR and their recommendations for short and long-term strategies. Western IPR regimes are deemed to be instruments of domination and incompatible with indigenous cultures. IPR to life forms are unacceptable to indigenous peoples. On the other hand, those intellectual property rights which do not create monopolies, such as trademarks and appellations of origin, could be of use. The paper shows the statement that was produced at the conclusion of the meeting.