Mylena Fiori
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Curitiba - Brazil wants to speed up the pace of negotiations over international rules to govern access to genetic resources derived from traditional and native knowledge, as well as the sharing of economic and non-economic benefits provided by the use of these resources. According to the executive secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Cláudio Langone, the high-level ministerial meeting which began yesterday (27) at the 8th Conference of the Parties to the Biological Diversity Convention (COP-8) should give a push in this direction.

There is currently no global mechanism to regulate access to traditional knowledge or genetic resources. The Convention on Biological Diversity, approved at the Rio-92 conference, sets as its prime objectives the conservation of the environment, the sustainable use of natural resources, and the sharing of benefits.

According to Langone, Brazil expects the more than 100 ministers of environment attending the meeting to discuss the contents of the document and define a work strategy for the next two years, so that an international system of rules can be approved at the COP-9.

Langone pointed out that this year the participation of non-governmental representatives - from civil society, the business sector, and the scientific community - is intense. "The participation of these segments has now gained a new status and can make contributions and influence the decisions," he observed.

Translation: David Silberstein