Towards a treaty instrument on marine genetic resources

Wehrli, Judith; Cottier, Thomas (2014). Towards a treaty instrument on marine genetic resources. In: Ribeiro, Marta Chantal (ed.) 30 years after the signature of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: The protection of the environment and the future of the law of the sea (pp. 517-551). Coimbra: Coimbra Editora

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Marine genetic resources other than fish and mammals are of increasing commercial interest and importance in genetic engineering, but fail being properly addressed in the law of the sea and in international economic law. The paper analyses the implication of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Convention on Biodiversity, the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and related instruments under the auspices of WIPO. The paper argues that the triangle of these agreements does not adequately address marine genetic resources in particular in the high seas. Neither concerns of protecting biodiversity nor of access and benefit sharing find appropriate answers commensurate to the commercial potential of marine genetic resources. The paper suggests developing an instrument inspired by, and comparable to, the mechanisms developed by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The instrument would grant facilitated access to marine genetic resources and offer a more detailed set of rules with respect to the sharing of benefits resulting from their use, thereby addressing the existing legal gaps in a comprehensive way.

Item Type:

Book Section (Book Chapter)

Division/Institute:

02 Faculty of Law > Department of Economic Law > World Trade Institute
10 Strategic Research Centers > World Trade Institute

02 Faculty of Law > Department of Economic Law > Institute of European and International Economic Law

UniBE Contributor:

Schäli, Judith Anna, Cottier, Thomas

Subjects:

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 340 Law

ISBN:

978-972-32-2203-6

Publisher:

Coimbra Editora

Funders:

[UNSPECIFIED] Faculty of Law, University of Porto

Language:

English

Submitter:

Judith Wehrli

Date Deposited:

09 Sep 2014 10:55

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:35

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.53917

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/53917

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