ICTSD Outputs and Activities on Biotechnology, Trade and Sustainble Development

Trading in Genes: Development Perspectives on Biotechnology, Trade and Sustainability

Edited by Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz and Vicente Sánchez

Few scientific developments have given rise to as much controversy as biotechnology. Numerous groups are united in their opposition, expressing concern over environmental and health risks, impacts on rural livelihoods, the economic dominance of multinational companies and the ethical implications of crossing species boundaries. Among the supporters of the technology are those that believe in its potential to enhance food security, further economic development, increase productivity and reduce environemntal presssures.As a result, countries -- and sector within coutnries -- find themselves at odds with each other while potential opporutnities for development offered by the use of biotechnology are seized or missed, and related risks go unmanaged.

This book, a unique interdisciplinary collection of perspectives from the developing world, examines the ongoing debate. Writing for the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), leading experts address issues such as diffusion of technology, intellectual property rights, the Cartagena Protocol, impacts of international trade, capacity building and biotechnology research and regulation. Within the most relevant examples from around the world, Trading in Genes offers the reader a single-volume overview of the connections between biotechnology, trade and sustainability that is both wide-ranging and thorough.

Part One - Weighing Biotechnology on the Scales of Sustainable Development

1. Developing Countries in the Global Bioeconomy: Emerging Issues
Calestous Juma and Victor Konde

2. From Biotech Innovation to the Market:Economic Factors Driving the South's Competitiveness in Biotechnology
Carlos M. Correa

3. Biotechnology: A Turning Point in Development or an Opportunity that Will Be Missed?
Joseph Gopo and Patricia Kameri-Mbote

4. Trade in Biotechnology: Development and the Clash of Collective Preferences
Heike Baumüller

5. Benefiting from Agricultural Biotechnology: Challenges for Developing Countries
Padmashree Gehl Sampath

6. Approaching Biotechnology: Experiences from Brazil and Argentina
Maurício Antônio Lopes and Maria Jose Amstalden Sampaio (Brazil), Eugenio Cap, Daniel Chudnovsky, Andrés Lopéz and Eduardo Trigo (Argentina)

7. Addressing Challenges of Tropical Agriculture: Colombia's Cassava Case
Paul Chavarriaga-Aguirre, Douglas Pachico and Joe Tohme

Part Two - Trade in Biotechnology - New Challenges in an Old Playground

8. Intellectual Property and Biotechnology: Trade Interests of Developing Countries
Jayashree Watal

9. Closing in on Biopiracy: Legal Dilemmas and Opportunities for the South
Jakkrit Kuanpoth

10. Balancing Biosafety and Trade: The Negotiating History of the Cartagena Protocol
Juan Mayr and Adriana Soto

11. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety: A New Hot Spot in the Trade-Environment Conflict?
Veit Koester

12. Building Sound Governance Structures for the Safe Application of Biotechnology
Arturo Martinez and Kakoli Ghosh

13. Regulating Trade in GMOs: Biotechnology and the WTO
Christiane Wolff

14. The Emerging Global Biotech Trade Regime: A Developing Country Perspective
Atul Kaushik

For more information and to purchase this book, visit Earthscan Publishing.