4:56 AM Jun 22, 1994

PROTESTS OVER WORLD BANK TAKEOVER OF CGIAR

Nairobi 21 June (TWN) -- Several government delegates at a Biodiversity Convention meeting, being held here (20 June - 1 July), have expressed concern over reports that the World Bank was attempting to take control of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and its valuable germplasm collections.

At a plenary session Tuesday night of the Intergovernmental Committee of the Biodiversity Convention (ICCBD), delegates from India, Malaysia, Sweden and the Philippines spoke up against the reported bid of the World Bank to take over the management of the CGIAR system and the process of determining the ownership and control of the genetic materials stored in agricultural research institutes linked to CGIAR.

"We are concerned about a dawn raid by the World Bank to take over control of the gene banks," said Ambassador Ting of Malaysia. "If these reports are true, it would compromise the basis on which the genetic materials were collected."

"The dangers are indeed very serious when control of germplasm is transferred from a research body to a commercial body, as distortions can then take place," commented Mr. B.P. Singh, leader of the Indian delegation.

The head of the Philippines delegation said it was important to discuss the issue (of the Bank's attempted takeover) at the ICCBD meeting. The present situation, where the germplasm collections were excluded from the Convention's coverage was "sheer injustice" to developing countries, and this should be redressed.

The chief of Swedish delegation traced developments within the FAO to place the CGIAR's genetic collections under inter-governmental control, firstly within the FAO's Commission on Plant Genetic Resources and eventually within the Biodiversity Convention. "I'm hopeful that this will still happen, and that the collections will be in good hands," he said.

The Bank's reported attempt to take over the CGIAR has become the hottest topic at the ICCBD meeting. Reports of this issue were carried yesterday in an NGO paper prepared by the Rural Advancement Fund International, GRAIN and the Third World Network, in the NGO bulletin Eco (circulated at the Convention), as well as in articles in the SUNS and Financial Times of London.

The issue dominated corridor conversation during the first two days of the Convention meeting, and was first introduced in open meeting at Tuesday night's plenary session by the director of the Third World Network, Martin Khor.

He said the germplasm collections in the agricultural gene banks -- collected from developing countries and in most cases voluntary donated by farmers -- were of great economic value and it was a weakness of the Convention that their status was not covered by the Convention and thus the ownership of these "ex-situ" collections was left ambiguous.

The genetic collections under the CGIAR system were worth billions of dollars, and could be used as an innovative financial instrument for implementing biodiversity programmes.

The stream of incomes and revenues due to the use of materials in the gene banks was also worth billions of dollars annually. It was thus important to recognise the rights of developing countries to these assets and to a fair share of the stream of financial benefits derived from the use of these genetic materials.

In this regard, he said, NGOs were extremely concerned about reports of the World Bank's recent move to take control of the genetic collections of CGIAR institutions, which account for 40 percent of the total worldwide unique collections of agricultural genetic materials.

This World Bank move was apparently made at the CGIAR meeting in Delhi at the end of May. According to reports, the Bank offered to forgive the CGIAR's debts of $5.6 million, to raise its normal annual grant by some $5 million and provide up to $20 million of new funds to match other donor funds.

In turn, the CGIAR would for the first time create a steering committee and a Finance Committee, both of which the Bank would chair. The Bank would also consult the World Trade Organisation regarding GATT provisions on intellectual property rights and CGIAR's germplasm. The Bank would also take the lead in dealing with the status of control and ownership of CGIAR's genetic resources, thus displacing the role played till now by the FAO.

This, said Khor, would be a "good bargain" for the Bank. The stream of benefits from the genetic materials is invaluable. For instance, increased productivity due to using improved varieties made possible by the genetic materials is worth $500 million annually in the US wheat sector alone. The annual value of increased productivity of all crops in all countries must thus be worth many billions of dollars.

Khor added that the Bank's move would put a serious obstacle in the way of negotiations between the FAO, governments and the CGIAR's agricultural research centres to place their genetic collections under the trusteeship of a democratically governed intergovernmental mechanism such as the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources, and later, within the Biodiversity Convention and its framework of principles.

"We fear that control over these valuable assets would be diverted instead to the Bank," said Khor. "Our concern is that the Bank's decision-making and governance structures are under Northern governmental domination whilst the genetic materials were collected from Southern countries and should rightfully be under their control. This would be more likely if the collections come under the purview and trusteeship of a democratic one country-one vote intergovernmental organ."

He requested the World Bank to provide answers whether it was true the Bank was increasing its control of the CGIAR; what measures would be taken to ensure full representation of developing countries in the governance of the CGIAR system and its genetic materials; how the equitable sharing of benefits from use of these materials would be arranged; and whether the FAO negotiations with CGIAR institutions would be allowed to continue.

In the discussions that followed, Ambassador Ting of Malaysia said it was true that the fate of ex-situ genetic materials in agricultural gene banks were left out of the Convention, which was a serious weakness. "We are concerned about a dawn raid of the World Bank to take over control of these gene banks," she said.

"If true, this will compromise the basis on which the materials were collected from developing countries. We allowed them to be taken in good faith, for the benefit of science and enhancing crop productivity. We are extremely concerned because through the FAO we are involved in a process to bring these ex-situ resources within the control of an intergovernmental framework. We hope this process will be allowed to continue."

B.P. Singh, a senior Environment Ministry official from India, said the dangers in this situation were far more serious than described. There was a great difference between having access to genetic materials to a research organisation and to a commercial organisation.

"When control of these materials are transferred from a research organisation to a commercial one, distortions can happen, and therein lies the danger," he said.

The Philippines delegation chief said there was a "sheer injustice" in the situation where biological materials collected before the Convention's coming into force was excluded from the Convention's purview. "I have a list of 26 commercially useful biological materials collected by Northern agencies from the Philippines, and they are excluded from the Biodiversity Convention," he said.

He gave two examples of materials found in soil samples collected from the Philippines by transnational companies which were subsequently found to contain valuable anti-tumour, anti- bacterial properties and were patented. "Even countries from where these materials originated are now thus prohibited from sharing the benefits of these materials. In the light of this basic injustice, our countries are concerned and want due redress must be made."

The Swedish delegate agreed that it was an injustice that biological materials collected prior to the Convention's coming into force was not covered by the Convention. This realisation prompted Sweden, together with other countries, to support an initiative, approved by governments in the FAO Conference, to negotiate with the CGIAR centres to place their genetic materials under the trusteeship of the FAO.

This process has been expected to proceed till the FAO Conference on Plant Genetic Resources which would adopt a renegotiated International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources. Through another related process carried out simultaneously, the materials in gene banks would come under democratic intergovernmental governance, through a protocol under the Biodiversity Convention.

"I am thus hopeful that through this process, the collections will be in good hands," he concluded.