A-21: BIOTECHNOLOGY
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 accounô;
(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.
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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
.
=====RRojas Research Unit/1996=====================================
