--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This document is copyright of the United Nations. Reproduction and dissemination of the document - in electronic and/or printed format - is encouraged, provided acknowledgement is made of the role of the United Nations in making it available.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Distr.
GENERAL
A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. II)
13 August 1992
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON
ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
(Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992)
Chapter 16
ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND MANAGEMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
16.1. Biotechnology is the integration of the new techniques emerging
from modern biotechnology with the well-established approaches of
traditional biotechnology. Biotechnology, an emerging
knowledge-intensive field, is a set of enabling techniques for bringing
about specific man-made changes in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), or
genetic material, in plants, animals and microbial systems, leading to
useful products and technologies. By itself, biotechnology cannot
resolve all the fundamental problems of environment and development, so
expectations need to be tempered by realism. Nevertheless, it promises
to make a significant contribution in enabling the development of, for
example, better health care, enhanced food security through sustainable
agricultural practices, improved supplies of potable water, more
efficient industrial development processes for transforming raw
materials, support for sustainable methods of afforestation and
reforestation, and detoxification of hazardous wastes. Biotechnology
also offers new opportunities for global partnerships, especially
between the countries rich in biological resources (which include
genetic resources) but lacking the expertise and investments needed to
apply such resources through biotechnology and the countries that have
developed the technological expertise to transform biological resources
so that they serve the needs of sustainable development. 1/
Biotechnology can assist in the conservation of those resources
through, for example, ex situ techniques. The programme areas set out
below seek to foster internationally agreed principles to be applied to
ensure the environmentally sound management of biotechnology, to
engender public trust and confidence, to promote the development of
sustainable applications of biotechnology and to establish appropriate
enabling mechanisms, especially within developing countries, through
the following activities:
(a) Increasing the availability of food, feed and renewable raw
materials;
(b) Improving human health;
(c) Enhancing protection of the environment;
(d) Enhancing safety and developing international mechanisms
for cooperation;
(e) Establishing enabling mechanisms for the development and
the environmentally sound application of biotechnology.
PROGRAMME AREAS
A. Increasing the availability of food,
feed and renewable raw materials
Basis for action
16.2. To meet the growing consumption needs of the global population,
the challenge is not only to increase food supply, but also to improve
food distribution significantly while simultaneously developing more
sustainable agricultural systems. Much of this increased productivity
will need to take place in developing countries. It will require the
successful and environmentally safe application of biotechnology in
agriculture, in the environment and in human health care. Most of the
investment in modern biotechnology has been in the industrialized
world. Significant new investments and human resource development will
be required in biotechnology, especially in the developing world.
Objectives
16.3. The following objectives are proposed, keeping in mind the need
to promote the use of appropriate safety measures based on programme
area D:
(a) To increase to the optimum possible extent the yield of
major crops, livestock, and aquaculture species, by using the combined
resources of modern biotechnology and conventional
plant/animal/micro-organism improvement, including the more diverse use
of genetic material resources, both hybrid and original. 2/ Forest
product yields should similarly be increased, to ensure the sustainable
use of forests; 3/
(b) To reduce the need for volume increases of food, feed and
raw materials by improving the nutritional value (composition) of the
source crops, animals and micro-organisms, and to reduce post-harvest
losses of plant and animal products;
(c) To increase the use of integrated pest, disease and crop
management techniques to eliminate overdependence on agrochemicals,
thereby encouraging environmentally sustainable agricultural practices;
(d) To evaluate the agricultural potential of marginal lands in
comparison with other potential uses and to develop, where appropriate,
systems allowing for sustainable productivity increases;
(e) To expand the applications of biotechnology in forestry,
both for increasing yields and more efficient utilization of forest
products and for improving afforestation and reforestation techniques.
Efforts should be concentrated on species and products that are grown
in and are of value particularly for developing countries;
(f) To increase the efficiency of nitrogen fixation and mineral
absorption by the symbiosis of higher plants with micro-organisms;
(g) To improve capabilities in basic and applied sciences and
in the management of complex interdisciplinary research projects.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
16.4. Governments at the appropriate level, with the assistance of
international and regional organizations and with the support of
non-governmental organizations, the private sector and academic and
scientific institutions, should improve both plant and animal breeding
and micro-organisms through the use of traditional and modern
biotechnologies, to enhance sustainable agricultural output to achieve
food security, particularly in developing countries, with due regard to
the prior identification of desired characteristics before
modification, taking into account the needs of farmers, the
socio-economic, cultural and environmental impacts of modifications and
the need to promote sustainable social and economic development, paying
particular attention to how the use of biotechnology will impact on the
maintenance of environmental integrity.
16.5. More specifically, these entities should:
(a) Improve productivity, nutritional quality and shelf-life of
food and animal feed products, with efforts including work on pre- and
post-harvest losses;
(b) Further develop resistance to diseases and pests;
(c) Develop plant cultivars tolerant and/or resistant to stress
from factors such as pests and diseases and from abiotic causes;
(d) Promote the use of underutilized crops of possible future
importance for human nutrition and industrial supply of raw materials;
(e) Increase the efficiency of symbiotic processes that assist
sustainable agricultural production;
(f) Facilitate the conservation and safe exchange of plant,
animal and microbial germ plasm by applying risk assessment and
management procedures, including improved diagnostic techniques for
detection of pests and diseases by better methods of rapid propagation;
(g) Develop improved diagnostic techniques and vaccines for the
prevention and spread of diseases and for rapid assessment of toxins or
infectious organisms in products for human use or livestock feed;
(h) Identify more productive strains of fast-growing trees,
especially for fuel wood, and develop rapid propagation methods to aid
their wider dissemination and use;
(i) Evaluate the use of various biotechnology techniques to
improve the yields of fish, algal and other aquatic species;
(j) Promote sustainable agricultural output by strengthening and
broadening the capacity and scope of existing research centres to
achieve the necessary critical mass through encouragement and
monitoring of research into the development of biological products and
processes of productive and environmental value that are economically
and socially feasible, while taking safety considerations into account;
(k) Promote the integration of appropriate and traditional
biotechnologies for the purposes of cultivating genetically modified
plants, rearing healthy animals and protecting forest genetic
resources;
(l) Develop processes to increase the availability of materials
derived from biotechnology for use in food, feed and renewable raw
materials production.
(b) Data and information
16.6. The following activities should be undertaken:
(a) Consideration of comparative assessments of the potential of
the different technologies for food production, together with a system
for assessing the possible effects of biotechnologies on international
trade in agricultural products;
(b) Examination of the implications of the withdrawal of
subsidies and the possible use of other economic instruments to reflect
the environmental costs associated with the unsustainable use of
agrochemicals;
(c) Maintenance and development of data banks of information on
environmental and health impacts of organisms to facilitate risk
assessment;
(d) Acceleration of technology acquisition, transfer and
adaptation by developing countries to support national activities that
promote food security.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
16.7. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of
relevant international and regional organizations, should promote the
following activities in conformity with international agreements or
arrangements on biological diversity, as appropriate:
(a) Cooperation on issues related to conservation of, access to
and exchange of germ plasm; rights associated with intellectual
property and
informal innovations, including farmers' and breeders' rights; access
to the benefits of biotechnology; and bio-safety;
(b) Promotion of collaborative research programmes, especially in
developing countries, to support activities outlined in this programme
area, with particular reference to cooperation with local and
indigenous people and their communities in the conservation of
biological diversity and sustainable use of biological resources, as
well as the fostering of traditional methods and knowledge of such
groups in connection with these activities;
(c) Acceleration of technology acquisition, transfer and
adaptation by developing countries to support national activities that
promote food security, through the development of systems for
substantial and sustainable productivity increases that do not damage
or endanger local ecosystems; 4/
(d) Development of appropriate safety procedures based on
programme area D, taking account of ethical considerations.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
16.8. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total
annual cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this
programme to be about $5 billion, including about $50 million from the
international community on grant or concessional terms. These are
indicative and order-of-magnitude estimates only and have not been
reviewed by Governments. Actual costs and financial terms, including
any that are non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the
specific strategies and programmes Governments decide upon for
implementation.
(b) Scientific and technological means*
(c) Human resource development
16.9. Training of competent professionals in the basic and applied
sciences at all levels (including scientific personnel, technical staff
and extension workers) is one of the most essential components of any
programme of this kind. Creating awareness of the benefits and risks
of biotechnology is essential. Given the importance of good management
of research resources for the successful completion of large
multidisciplinary projects, continuing programmes of formal training
for scientists should include managerial training. Training programmes
should also be developed, within the context of specific projects, to
meet regional or national needs for comprehensively trained personnel
capable of using advanced technology to reduce the "brain drain" from
developing to developed countries. Emphasis should be given to
* * * *
* See paras. 16.6 and 16.7.
* * * *
encouraging collaboration between and training of scientists, extension
workers and users to produce integrated systems. Additionally, special
consideration should be given to the execution of programmes for
training and exchange of knowledge on traditional biotechnologies and
for training on safety procedures.
(d) Capacity-building
16.10. Institutional upgrading or other appropriate measures will be
needed to build up technical, managerial, planning and administrative
capacities at the national level to support the activities in this
programme area. Such measures should be backed up by international,
scientific, technical and financial assistance adequate to facilitate
technical cooperation and raise the capacities of the developing
countries. Programme area E contains further details.
B. Improving human health
Basis for action
16.11. The improvement of human health is one of the most important
objectives of development. The deterioration of environmental quality,
notably air, water and soil pollution owing to toxic chemicals,
hazardous wastes, radiation and other sources, is a matter of growing
concern. This degradation of the environment resulting from inadequate
or inappropriate development has a direct negative effect on human
health. Malnutrition, poverty, poor human settlements, lack of
good-quality potable water and inadequate sanitation facilities add to
the problems of communicable and non-communicable diseases. As a
consequence, the health and well-being of people are exposed to
increasing pressures.
Objectives
16.12. The main objective of this programme area is to contribute,
through the environmentally sound application of biotechnology to an
overall health programme, to: 5/
(a) Reinforce or inaugurate (as a matter of urgency) programmes
to help combat major communicable diseases;
(b) Promote good general health among people of all ages;
(c) Develop and improve programmes to assist in specific
treatment of and protection from major non-communicable diseases;
(d) Develop and strengthen appropriate safety procedures based on
programme area D, taking account of ethical considerations;
(e) Create enhanced capabilities for carrying out basic and
applied research and for managing interdisciplinary research.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
16.13. Governments at the appropriate level, with the assistance of
international and regional organizations, academic and scientific
institutions, and the pharmaceutical industry, should, taking into
account appropriate safety and ethical considerations:
(a) Develop national and international programmes for identifying
and targeting those populations of the world most in need of
improvement in general health and protection from diseases;
(b) Develop criteria for evaluating the effectiveness and the
benefits and risks of the proposed activities;
(c) Establish and enforce screening, systematic sampling and
evaluation procedures for drugs and medical technologies, with a view
to barring the use of those that are unsafe for the purposes of
experimentation; ensure that drugs and technologies relating to
reproductive health are safe and effective and take account of ethical
considerations;
(d) Improve, systematically sample and evaluate drinking-water
quality by introducing appropriate specific measures, including
diagnosis of water-borne pathogens and pollutants;
(e) Develop and make widely available new and improved vaccines
against major communicable diseases that are efficient and safe and
offer protection with a minimum number of doses, including intensifying
efforts directed at the vaccines needed to combat common diseases of
children;
(f) Develop biodegradable delivery systems for vaccines that
eliminate the need for present multiple-dose schedules, facilitate
better coverage of the population and reduce the costs of immunization;
(g) Develop effective biological control agents against
disease-transmitting vectors, such as mosquitoes and resistant
variants, taking account of environmental protection considerations;
(h) Using the tools provided by modern biotechnology, develop,
inter alia, improved diagnostics, new drugs and improved treatments and
delivery systems;
(i) Develop the improvement and more effective utilization of
medicinal plants and other related sources;
(j) Develop processes to increase the availability of materials
derived from biotechnology, for use in improving human health.
(b) Data and information
16.14. The following activities should be undertaken:
(a) Research to assess the comparative social, environmental and
financial costs and benefits of different technologies for basic and
reproductive health care within a framework of universal safety and
ethical considerations;
(b) Development of public education programmes directed at
decision makers and the general public to encourage awareness and
understanding of the relative benefits and risks of modern
biotechnology, according to ethical and cultural considerations.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
16.15. Governments at the appropriate levels, with the support of
relevant international and regional organizations, should:
(a) Develop and strengthen appropriate safety procedures based on
programme area D, taking account of ethical considerations;
(b) Support the development of national programmes, particularly
in developing countries, for improvements in general health, especially
protection from major communicable diseases, common diseases of
children and disease-transmitting factors.
Means of implementation
16.16. To achieve the above goals, the activities need to be
implemented with urgency if progress towards the control of major
communicable diseases is to be achieved by the beginning of the next
century. The spread of some diseases to all regions of the world calls
for global measures. For more localized diseases, regional or national
policies will be more appropriate. The achievement of goals calls for:
(a) Continuous international commitment;
(b) National priorities with a defined time-frame;
(c) Scientific and financial input at global and national levels.
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
16.17. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total
annual cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this
programme to be about $14 billion, including about $130 million from
the international community on grant or concessional terms. These are
indicative and order-of-magnitude estimates only and have not been
reviewed by Governments. Actual costs and financial terms, including
any that are non-concessional, will depend upon,
inter alia, the specific strategies and programmes Governments decide
upon for implementation.
(b) Scientific and technological means
16.18. Well-coordinated multidisciplinary efforts involving
cooperation between scientists, financial institutions and industries
will be required. At the global level, this may mean collaboration
between research institutions in different countries, with funding at
the intergovernmental level, possibly supported by similar
collaboration at the national level. Research and development support
will also need to be strengthened, together with the mechanisms for
providing the transfer of relevant technology.
(c) Human resource development
16.19. Training and technology transfer is needed at the global level,
with regions and countries having access to, and participation in
exchange of, information and expertise, particularly indigenous or
traditional knowledge and related biotechnology. It is essential to
create or enhance endogenous capabilities in developing countries to
enable them to participate actively in the processes of biotechnology
production. The training of personnel could be undertaken at three
levels:
(a) That of scientists required for basic and product-oriented
research;
(b) That of health personnel (to be trained in the safe use of
new products) and of science managers required for complex
intermultidisciplinary research;
(c) That of tertiary-level technical workers required for
delivery in the field.
(d) Capacity-building*
C. Enhancing protection of the environment
Basis for action
16.20. Environmental protection is an integral component of
sustainable development. The environment is threatened in all its
biotic and abiotic components: animals, plants, microbes and
ecosystems comprising biological diversity; water, soil and air, which
form the physical components of habitats and ecosystems; and all the
interactions between the components of biodiversity and their
sustaining habitats and ecosystems. With the continued increase in the
use of chemicals, energy and non-renewable resources by an
* * * *
* See programme area E.
* * * *
expanding global population, associated environmental problems will
also increase. Despite increasing efforts to prevent waste
accumulation and to promote recycling, the amount of environmental
damage caused by overconsumption, the quantities of waste generated and
the degree of unsustainable land use appear likely to continue growing.
16.21. The need for a diverse genetic pool of plant, animal and
microbial germ plasm for sustainable development is well established.
Biotechnology is one of many tools that can play an important role in
supporting the rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems and landscapes.
This may be done through the development of new techniques for
reforestation and afforestation, germ plasm conservation, and
cultivation of new plant varieties. Biotechnology can also contribute
to the study of the effects exerted on the remaining organisms and on
other organisms by organisms introduced into ecosystems.
Objectives
16.22. The aim of this programme is to prevent, halt and reverse
environmental degradation through the appropriate use of biotechnology
in conjunction with other technologies, while supporting safety
procedures as an integral component of the programme. Specific
objectives include the inauguration as soon as possible of specific
programmes with specific targets:
(a) To adopt production processes making optimal use of natural
resources, by recycling biomass, recovering energy and minimizing waste
generation; 6/
(b) To promote the use of biotechnologies, with emphasis on
bio-remediation of land and water, waste treatment, soil conservation,
reforestation, afforestation and land rehabilitation; 7/ 8/
(c) To apply biotechnologies and their products to protect
environmental integrity with a view to long-term ecological security.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
16.23. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of
relevant international and regional organizations, the private sector,
non-governmental organizations and academic and scientific
institutions, should:
(a) Develop environmentally sound alternatives and improvements
for environmentally damaging production processes;
(b) Develop applications to minimize the requirement for
unsustainable synthetic chemical input and to maximize the use of
environmentally appropriate products, including natural products (see
programme area A);
(c) Develop processes to reduce waste generation, treat waste
before disposal and make use of biodegradable materials;
(d) Develop processes to recover energy and provide renewable
energy sources, animal feed and raw materials from recycling organic
waste and biomass;
(e) Develop processes to remove pollutants from the environment,
including accidental oil spills, where conventional techniques are not
available or are expensive, inefficient or inadequate;
(f) Develop processes to increase the availability of planting
materials, particularly indigenous varieties, for use in afforestation
and reforestation and to improve sustainable yields from forests;
(g) Develop applications to increase the availability of
stress-tolerant planting material for land rehabilitation and soil
conservation;
(h) Promote the use of integrated pest management based on the
judicious use of bio-control agents;
(i) Promote the appropriate use of bio-fertilizers within
national fertilizer programmes;
(j) Promote the use of biotechnologies relevant to the
conservation and scientific study of biological diversity and the
sustainable use of biological resources;
(k) Develop easily applicable technologies for the treatment of
sewage and organic waste;
(l) Develop new technologies for rapid screening of organisms for
useful biological properties;
(m) Promote new biotechnologies for tapping mineral resources in
an environmentally sustainable manner.
(b) Data and information
16.24. Steps should be taken to increase access both to existing
information about biotechnology and to facilities based on global
databases.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
16.25. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of
relevant international and regional organizations, should:
(a) Strengthen research, training and development capabilities,
particularly in developing countries, to support the activities
outlined in this programme area;
(b) Develop mechanisms for scaling up and disseminating
environmentally sound biotechnologies of high environmental importance,
especially in the short term, even though those biotechnologies may
have limited commercial potential;
(c) Enhance cooperation, including transfer of biotechnology,
between participating countries for capacity-building;
(d) Develop appropriate safety procedures based on programme area
D, taking account of ethical considerations.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
16.26. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total
annual cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this
programme to be about $1 billion, including about $10 million from the
international community on grant or concessional terms. These are
indicative and order-of-magnitude estimates only and have not been
reviewed by Governments. Actual costs and financial terms, including
any that are non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the
specific strategies and programmes Governments decide upon for
implementation.
(b) Scientific and technological means*
(c) Human resource development
16.27. The activities for this programme area will increase the demand
for trained personnel. Support for existing training programmes needs
to be increased, for example, at the university and technical institute
level, as well as the exchange of trained personnel between countries
and regions. New and additional training programmes also need to be
developed, for example, for technical and support personnel. There is
also an urgent need to improve the level of understanding of biological
principles and their policy implications among decision makers in
Governments, and financial and other institutions.
(d) Capacity-building
16.28. Relevant institutions will need to have the responsibility for
undertaking, and the capacity (political, financial and workforce) to
undertake, the above-mentioned activities and to be dynamic in response
to new biotechnological developments (see programme area E).
* * * *
* See paras. 16.23-16.25 above.
* * * *
D. Enhancing safety and developing international
mechanisms for cooperation
Basis for action
16.29. There is a need for further development of internationally
agreed principles on risk assessment and management of all aspects of
biotechnology, which should build upon those developed at the national
level. Only when adequate and transparent safety and border-control
procedures are in place will the community at large be able to derive
maximum benefit from, and be in a much better position to accept the
potential benefits and risks of, biotechnology. Several fundamental
principles could underlie many of these safety procedures, including
primary consideration of the organism, building on the principle of
familiarity, applied in a flexible framework, taking into account
national requirements and recognizing that the logical progression is
to start with a step-by-step and case-by-case approach, but also
recognizing that experience has shown that in many instances a more
comprehensive approach should be used, based on the experiences of the
first period, leading, inter alia, to streamlining and categorizing;
complementary consideration of risk assessment and risk management; and
classification into contained use or release to the environment.
Objectives
16.30. The aim of this programme area is to ensure safety in
biotechnology development, application, exchange and transfer through
international agreement on principles to be applied on risk assessment
and management, with particular reference to health and environmental
considerations, including the widest possible public participation and
taking account of ethical considerations.
Activities
16.31. The proposed activities for this programme area call for close
international cooperation. They should build upon planned or existing
activities to accelerate the environmentally sound application of
biotechnology, especially in developing countries.
(a) Management-related activities
16.32. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of
relevant international and regional organizations, the private sector,
non-governmental organizations and academic and scientific
institutions, should:
(a) Make the existing safety procedures widely available by
collecting the existing information and adapting it to the specific
needs of different countries and regions;
(b) Further develop, as necessary, the existing safety procedures
to promote scientific development and categorization in the areas of
risk
assessment and risk management (information requirements; databases;
procedures for assessing risks and conditions of release; establishment
of safety conditions; monitoring and inspections, taking account of
ongoing national, regional and international initiatives and avoiding
duplication wherever possible);
(c) Compile, update and develop compatible safety procedures into
a framework of internationally agreed principles as a basis for
guidelines to be applied on safety in biotechnology, including
consideration of the need for and feasibility of an international
agreement, and promote information exchange as a basis for further
development, drawing on the work already undertaken by international or
other expert bodies;
(d) Undertake training programmes at the national and regional
levels on the application of the proposed technical guidelines;
(e) Assist in exchanging information about the procedures
required for safe handling and risk management and about the conditions
of release of the products of biotechnology, and cooperate in providing
immediate assistance in cases of emergencies that may arise in
conjunction with the use of biotechnology products.
(b) Data and information*
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
16.33. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the
relevant international and regional organizations, should raise
awareness of the relative benefits and risks of biotechnology.
16.34. Further activities should include the following (see also
para. 16.32):
(a) Organizing one or more regional meetings between countries to
identify further practical steps to facilitate international
cooperation in bio-safety;
(b) Establishing an international network incorporating national,
regional and global contact points;
(c) Providing direct assistance upon request through the
international network, using information networks, databases and
information procedures;
(d) Considering the need for and feasibility of internationally
agreed guidelines on safety in biotechnology releases, including risk
assessment and risk management, and considering studying the
feasibility of guidelines which could facilitate national legislation
on liability and compensation.
* * * *
* See paras. 16.32 and 16.33.
* * * *
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
16.35. The UNCED secretariat has estimated the average total annual
cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programmes to
be about $2 million from the international community on grant or
concessional terms. These are indicative and order-of-magnitude
estimates only and have not been reviewed by Governments. Actual costs
and financial terms, including any that are non-concessional, will
depend upon, inter alia, the specific strategies and programmes
Governments decide upon for implementation.
(b) Scientific and technological means*
(c) Human resource development*
(d) Capacity-building
16.36. Adequate international technical and financial assistance
should be provided and technical cooperation to developing countries
facilitated in order to build up technical, managerial, planning and
administrative capacities at the national level to support the
activities in this programme area (see also programme area E).
E. Establishing enabling mechanisms for the development and
the environmentally sound application of biotechnology
Basis for action
16.37. The accelerated development and application of biotechnologies,
particularly in developing countries, will require a major effort to
build up institutional capacities at the national and regional levels.
In developing countries, enabling factors such as training capacity,
know-how, research and development facilities and funds, industrial
building capacity, capital (including venture capital) protection of
intellectual property rights, and expertise in areas including
marketing research, technology assessment, socio-economic assessment
and safety assessment are frequently inadequate. Efforts will
therefore need to be made to build up capacities in these and other
areas and to match such efforts with appropriate levels of financial
support. There is therefore a need to strengthen the endogenous
capacities of developing countries by means of new international
initiatives to support research in order to speed up the development
and application of both new and conventional biotechnologies to serve
the needs of sustainable development at the local, national and
regional levels. National mechanisms to allow for informed comment by
the public with regard to biotechnology research and application should
be part of the process.
* * * *
* See para. 16.32.
* * * *
16.38. Some activities at the national, regional and global levels
already address the issues outlined in programme areas A, B, C and D,
as well as the provisioin of advice to individual countries on the
development of national guidelines and systems for the implementation
of those guidelines. These activities are generally uncoordinated,
however, involving many different organizations, priorities,
constituencies, time-scales, funding sources and resource constraints.
There is a need for a much more cohesive and coordinated approach to
harness available resources in the most effective manner. As with most
new technologies, research in biotechnology and the application of its
findings could have significant positive and negative socio-economic as
well as cultural impacts. These impacts should be carefully identified
in the earliest phases of the development of biotechnology in order to
enable appropriate management of the consequences of transferring
biotechnology.
Objectives
16.39. The objectives are as follows:
(a) To promote the development and application of
biotechnologies, with special emphasis on developing countries, by:
(i) Enhancing existing efforts at the national, regional and
global levels;
(ii) Providing the necessary support for biotechnology,
particularly research and product development, at the
national, regional and international levels;
(iii) Raising public awareness regarding the relative beneficial
aspects of and risks related to biotechnology, to contribute
to sustainable development;
(iv) Helping to create a favourable climate for investments,
industrial capacity-building and distribution/marketing;
(v) Encouraging the exchange of scientists among all countries
and discouraging the "brain drain";
(vi) Recognizing and fostering the traditional methods and
knowledge of indigenous peoples and their communities and
ensuring the opportunity for their participation in the
economic and commercial benefits arising from developments in
biotechnology; 9/
(b) To identify ways and means of enhancing current efforts,
building wherever possible on existing enabling mechanisms,
particularly regional, to determine the precise nature of the needs for
additional initiatives, particularly in respect of developing
countries, and to develop appropriate response strategies, including
proposals for any new international mechanisms;
(c) To establish or adapt appropriate mechanisms for safety
appraisal and risk assessment at the local, regional and international
levels, as appropriate.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
16.40. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of
international and regional organizations, the private sector,
non-governmental organizations and academic and scientific
institutions, should:
(a) Develop policies and mobilize additional resources to
facilitate greater access to the new biotechnologies, particularly by
and among developing countries;
(b) Implement programmes to create greater awareness of the
potential and relative benefits and risks of the environmentally sound
application of biotechnology among the public and key decision makers;
(c) Undertake an urgent review of existing enabling mechanisms,
programmes and activities at the national, regional and global levels
to identify strengths, weaknesses and gaps, and to assess the priority
needs of developing countries;
(d) Undertake an urgent follow-up and critical review to identify
ways and means of strengthening endogenous capacities within and among
developing countries for the environmentally sound application of
biotechnology, including, as a first step, ways to improve existing
mechanisms, particularly at the regional level, and, as a subsequent
step, the consideration of possible new international mechanisms, such
as regional biotechnology centres;
(e) Develop strategic plans for overcoming targeted constraints
by means of appropriate research, product development and marketing;
(f) Establish additional quality-assurance standards for
biotechnology applications and products, where necessary.
(b) Data and information
16.41. The following activities should be undertaken: facilitation of
access to existing information dissemination systems, especially among
developing countries; improvement of such access where appropriate; and
consideration of the development of a directory of information.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
16.42. Governments at the appropriate level, with the assistance of
international and regional organizations, should develop appropriate
new initiatives to identify priority areas for research based on
specific problems
and facilitate access to new biotechnologies, particularly by and among
developing countries, among relevant undertakings within those
countries, in order to strengthen endogenous capacities and to support
the building of research and institutional capacity in those countries.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
16.43. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total
annual cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this
programme to be about $5 million from the international community on
grant or concessional terms. These are indicative and
order-of-magnitude estimates only and have not been reviewed by
Governments. Actual costs and financial terms, including any that are
non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the specific strategies
and programmes Governments decide upon for implementation.
(b) Scientific and technological means
16.44. Workshops, symposia, seminars and other exchanges among the
scientific community at the regional and global levels, on specific
priority themes, will need to be organized, making full use of the
existing scientific and technological manpower in each country for
bringing about such exchanges.
(c) Human resource development
16.45. Personnel development needs will need to be identified and
additional training programmes developed at the national, regional and
global levels, especially in developing countries. These should be
supported by increased training at all levels, graduate, postgraduate
and post-doctoral, as well as by the training of technicians and
support staff, with particular reference to the generation of trained
manpower in consultant services, design, engineering and marketing
research. Training programmes for lecturers training scientists and
technologists in advanced research institutions in different countries
throughout the world will also need to be developed, and systems giving
appropriate rewards, incentives and recognition to scientists and
technologists will need to be instituted (see para. 16.44). Conditions
of service will also need to be improved at the national level in
developing countries to encourage and nurture trained manpower with a
view to retaining that manpower locally. Society should be informed of
the social and cultural impact of the development and application of
biotechnology.
(d) Capacity-building
16.46. Biotechnology research and development is undertaken both under
highly sophisticated conditions and at the practical level in many
countries. Efforts will be needed to ensure that the necessary
infrastructure facilities for research, extension and technology
activities are available on a decentralized basis. Global and regional
collaboration for basic and applied research and development will also
need to be further enhanced and every
effort should be made to ensure that existing national and regional
facilities are fully utilized. Such institutions already exist in some
countries and it should be possible to make use of them for training
purposes and joint research projects. Strengthening of universities,
technical schools and local research institutions for the development
of biotechnologies and extension services for their application will
need to be developed, especially in developing countries.
Notes
1/ See chap. 15 (Conservation of biological diversity).
2/ See chap. 14 (Promoting sustainable agriculture and rural
development).
3/ See chap. 11 (Combating deforestation).
4/ See chap. 34 (Transfer of environmentally sound technology,
cooperation and capacity-building).
5/ See chap. 6 (Protecting and promoting human health
conditions).
6/ See chap. 21 (Environmentally sound management of solid
wastes and sewage-related issues).
7/ See chap. 10 (Integrated approach to the planning and
management of land resources).
8/ See chap. 18 (Protection of the quality and supply of
freshwater resources: application of integrated approaches to the
development, management and use of water resources).
9/ See chap. 26 (Recognizing and strengthening the role of
indigenous people and their communities).
END OF CHAPTER 16
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------