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DUTCH-GERMAN ABS CAPACITY INITIATIVE FOR AFRICA KIRSTERNBOSCH NATIONAL BOTANICAL GARDEN CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA 19-24 November 2006 ABS AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN SOUTH AFRICA 1. INTRODUCTION On behalf of the government of South Africa let me once again warmly welcome you to this evening function. Let me also take this opportunity to warmly welcome the honorable ambassadors of Germany and the Netherlands and our distinguished international speakers. More importantly let me welcome you to our country in the beautiful province of Western Cape. I hope you will all have the time to visit our two World Heritage Sites; Robben Island, which is a cultural heritage site and the Cape Floristic Protected Areas and I expect all of you to go up the Table Mountain. South Africa is honored to be part of this important regional capacity building workshop on access and benefit sharing. We all know that one of the challenges facing many Parties to the Convention on Biological Biodiversity is implementation of the third objective of the Convention; namely, fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. Another bigger challenge to the global community is the development of an international regime on Access and benefit sharing as mandated by the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Paragraph 44 (o) of the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) called for action to “negotiate within the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), bearing in mind the Bonn Guidelines, an international regime to promote and safeguard the fair and equitable sharing of benefit arising out of the use of the utilization of genetic resources; a call that was reiterated by the UN General Assembly in its resolution 57/260 of 20th December 2002. It is therefore important to share experiences and strengthen the negotiating and implementation capacity of African countries to regulate the use of genetic resources in their quest for social and economic development. 2. SOUTH AFRICA South Africa is the signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity and is committed to it’s the implementation of the three objectives of the Convention, namely; conservation of biodiversity; sustainable use of its components, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. Like most African countries, biodiversity is the cornerstone of South Africa’s livelihoods and economy. As the third most biologically diverse country, South Africa views its rich biological resources as having a vital role to play in alleviating poverty, ensuring food security, fostering industrial innovation and developing new medicines. In addition to its rich biodiversity and vast traditional knowledge on the uses of plants, South Africa has capacity for biodiversity research and well managed collections. All these factors make South Africa a favoured destination for biodiversity prospecting companies seeking potential new species with medicinal, agricultural, horticultural, environmental and other economic potential. According to some estimates, seventy percent of the planet’s biodiversity is located in approximately fifteen countries distributed throughout Asia, Oceania and Africa. Most of these megadiverse countries are found in developing world in areas and among poor, rural communities. Distinguished ladies and gentleman, genetic resources are assets that, if properly managed, could contribute substantially, to local and national economies and towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals of eradicating poverty and environmental sustainability. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) makes reference to the role that genetic resources have played and continue to play in the lives of African people. African peoples and communities have for centuries depended on these resources for their economic, social and cultural well being. The rich biological resources, diverse cultures and indigenous knowledge systems of African people are being used in modern medicines as in the case of Hoodia used by the San people of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. The growing appreciation of the value of indigenous knowledge by the global community and modern technology means it has to be nurtured, maintained and protected. In this regard, it is equally important to recognize and respect the rights of holders and practitioners as living libraries of indigenous knowledge. Unregulated exploitation and misappropriation of genetic resources and indigenous knowledge erode the rights of the holders of that knowledge and adversely affect conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and associated Indigenous knowledge. 3. THE CHALLENGE What are the challenges? The rapid scientific and technological advances in biosciences, globalisation, cross-cutting nature of the issue of ABS, commodification and privatization of biological resources, 2 provisions of the CBD and other multilateral agreements and complex partnerships involved in ABS agreements, present challenges to governments all over the world to govern the knowledge society, particularly issues related to genetic resources, indigenous knowledge and innovation. The challenges are well known – inadequate scientific and technological capacity, weak and ineffective legal and institutional frameworks, intellectual property rights, protection of indigenous knowledge, insufficient financial resources, poor involvement and collaboration among all affected and interested parties, research institutions, industry, relevant government departments, local and indigenous communities and non-governmental organisations, inadequate capacities to manage and enforce policies and legislation on access and benefit sharing, lack of clear market information regarding the value of genetic resources and the history of mistrust between providers and users of genetic resources. Despite these challenges, South Africa has put legal frameworks in place to manage and regulate access to genetic resources and promote equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources. Among many of the laws addressing aspects related to ABS, chapter 6 of the National Management Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) Act No. 10 of 2004) deserves mentioning. The chapter provides a framework for regulating access and benefit sharing and bioprospecting of indigenous biological resources. Regulations related to access and benefit sharing are being developed to ensure that the procedures to be followed by both providers and users of biological resources are clear and simplified particularly as regards to obtaining prior informed consent and development of benefit sharing agreements. The Department of Science and Technology has put an indigenous knowledge policy and legislation in place that will protect, develop and promote IKS and will help improve livelihoods and economic well being of indigenous and local communities. A national indigenous knowledge office (NIKSO) has just been established. The Department of Trade and Industry has amended its Intellectual Property (IP) legislation to allow the registrar of patents to refuse or revoke an application for a patent which does not disclose the origin of the biological material on which the invention is base or prior knowledge associated with biological material. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is undertaking ongoing biodiversity research in collaboration with local communities and industry on various plant species in search for potential health and other social and economic benefits. At SADC level as part of the follow up from the SADC ministers’ meeting during CBD COP8 in Curitiba, Brazil, South Africa, Namibia and Botswana are undertaking an ABS case study with the aim of enhancing development of effective and harmonised legal and institutional frameworks and learning lessons from previous ABS agreements like Hoodia, and SANBI-Ball agreements in the case of South Africa. Like most countries, South Africa is also faced with implementation challenges and putting institutions in place that will ensure that clear procedures required for accessing genetic resources are in place and relevant departments and agencies are working together to 3 ultimately ensure that communities and the broader South Africa benefit from its rich genetic resources as part of one of the many options for achieving economic and social development. Increasing capacity for scientific and technological research, improving skills for development and implementation of effective legal and institutional frameworks, management and dissemination of information on ABS, developing equitable partnerships, increased technology transfer, protection of indigenous knowledge and developing skills for negotiations are all challenges that I hope the workshop will identify and take concrete steps to address. 4. CONCLUSION In conclusion, I hope your deliberations in the next few days will address some of these challenges. What we need to achieve ultimately is positive impact on the ground, so that benefits arising from biosprospecting can contribute to the lives of the rural poor and women in particular. I hope you have a pleasant evening and I wish you a great success in your deliberation and I will be interested in the outputs of the workshop. Maria Mbengashe Chief Director: International Marine and Biodiversity Cooperation Date: 19 November 2006 4