Convention on Biological Diversity and FAO Treaty

While trade in valuable living organisms is an age - old practice, research on and trade in genetic resources per se is relatively new. In a modern context, there are many overlapping and sometimes conflicting aspects to genetic resources.

These include biotechnology and biosafety, trade, intellectual property rights, conservation of the environment and biodiversity, traditional knowledge, food security and poverty eradication, health, etc. One consequence of this multitude of angles to genetic resources is that their governance falls under the purview of numerous international organisations and instruments, e.g. the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the International Treaty on plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (IT) at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

"There is no question that there is overlap between the CBD and the IT, both are instruments of international law and both address (at least in part) a similar issue, namely genetic resources"

Though their approaches to regulating genetic resources are different. On the one hand, the CBD covers nearly the full range of genetic resources from all types of organisms (only human genetic resources have been excluded) and requires negotiations for access to and benefit sharing from all these genetic resources.

The IT, on the other hand, confines itself to addressing the specific issues. This overlap between the CBD and the IT means that the two instruments should ideally work in harmony in order to achieve their common objectives. The CBD entails provisions which have similarities and parallels to the FAO resolutions from 1989 and the later International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

With Article 8(J), the parties to the CBD agree to respect, preserve and maintain traditional knowledge, innovation and practices, as far as possible, as appropriate and subject to their national legislation. Reference is made to indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. The parties also agree to promote the wider application of such knowledge, innovation and practices.