Are there risks for human health and the environment because of biotechnology?
No. The directive is fully consistent with the Convention. The Parliament and the Commission legal services have carefully looked at this question, and both have stated that the rules for biotech patenting will have no adverse effect on the commitments made and aspirations expressed in the EU institutions in relation to the Biodiversity Convention.
The Convention on Biodiversity, signed in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992, is based on and refers to the existence of rights of protection in the field of biotechnology.
The aim of the Convention is to conserve biological diversity and to share fairly the economic advantages derived from the use of biological materials, in particular those from developing countries. They reaffirmed "the importance they attach to transfers of technology and to biotechnology in order to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.
The compliance with intellectual property rights constitutes an essential element for the implementation of policies for technology transfer and co-investment. The European Community and its Member States will encourage the use of the financial mechanism established by the Convention to promote the voluntary transfer of technology and intellectual property rights held by European operators, in particular through the granting of licences, through normal commercial mechanisms and decisions, while ensuring adequate and effective protection of property rights".
The EU Council of Ministers supported the final outcome of the negotiations of the Biosafety Protocol at the Biodiversity Convention.
The Convention on Biodiversity, signed in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992, is based on and refers to the existence of rights of protection in the field of biotechnology.
The aim of the Convention is to conserve biological diversity and to share fairly the economic advantages derived from the use of biological materials, in particular those from developing countries. They reaffirmed "the importance they attach to transfers of technology and to biotechnology in order to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.
The compliance with intellectual property rights constitutes an essential element for the implementation of policies for technology transfer and co-investment. The European Community and its Member States will encourage the use of the financial mechanism established by the Convention to promote the voluntary transfer of technology and intellectual property rights held by European operators, in particular through the granting of licences, through normal commercial mechanisms and decisions, while ensuring adequate and effective protection of property rights".
The EU Council of Ministers supported the final outcome of the negotiations of the Biosafety Protocol at the Biodiversity Convention.
