Guest guest Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 ***************************Advertisement*************************** TechCentral http://star-techcentral.com ***************************************************************** This message was forwarded to you by yitzeling. Comment from sender: This article is from The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my) URL: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2004/2/17/features/7331207 & sec=f\ eatures ________________________ Tuesday February 17, 2004 Safeguarding traditional knowledge MALAYSIA and the European Commu-nity (EC) reached a compromise yesterday and agreed to drop references to “international” laws in a document on access to traditional knowledge currently being negotiated at the global meet on biodiversity. Last week, the Malaysian proposal to delete the word “international” from two paragraphs of the document was criticised by non-governmental groups (NGOs) and opposed by the EC. NGOs said the reference to international laws would safeguard against weak or the lack of national laws which protect access to indigenous knowledge. “There are now no laws which protect traditional knowledge and whatever is available is not sufficient, which is why we want international laws to apply,” said Jannie Lasimbang, vice-chairman of the Sabah-based Partners of Community Organisations (Pacos Trust). “The only national law pertaining to traditional knowledge that we have now is on intellectual property but that only recognises the knowledge of individuals and not the collective knowledge of communities.” The Malaysian delegation, on the other hand, argued that the Convention on Biological Diversity recognised that national laws take precedence with regards to traditional knowledge. They said the country should not subject itself to something unknown since there is now no international law on traditional knowledge. Tara Shine, the delegate from Ireland who spoke on behalf of the EC, explained that the reference to “international laws” was because of existing global legislations pertaining to human rights. “We would be excluding international laws, especially those dealing with human rights, if we restrict the document on traditional knowledge only to national laws.” Indigenous people have been pressing for protection of their traditional knowledge which, in the past, had been freely shared with commercial entities but without the people receiving any benefits or compensation. The Convention on Biological Diversity requires countries to protect the know-how and allow access only with the consent of the local communities. – By Tan Cheng Li<p> ________________________ Your one-stop information portal: The Star Online http://thestar.com.my http://biz.thestar.com.my http://classifieds.thestar.com.my http://cards.thestar.com.my http://search.thestar.com.my http://star-motoring.com http://star-space.com http://star-jobs.com http://star-ecentral.com http://star-techcentral.com 1995-2003 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Star Publications is prohibited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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