property regime concerning genetic resources and traditional knowledge

Abstract

This article provides an historical account of the changes that have taken place regarding ownership, control and access over genetic resources. Once considered the common heritage of humanity, rights over genetic resources, it is argued, have undergone radical transformations. The global legal framework regarding genetic resources has shifted to legitimize and promote their appropriation and monopolization.

This transformation embraced the expansion of intellectual property rights over genetic material and information, including living organisms, through the World Trade Organization´s Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs). This was coupled by the adoption of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, which recognizes sovereign rights of the countries of origin over their genetic resources and, at the same time, obligates them to permit access to those resources.

The Colombian Constitution of 1991 and unparalleled judicial decisions during the last decade reaffirmed sovereign rights over genetic resources in Colombia. Conversely, the genetic resources and the traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples and local communities continue to be freely accessible resources within the current Colombian legal framework.