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PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK NORTH AMERICA UPDATES SERVICE
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NGOs Accuse World Bank of Attempting to Raid Gene
Reserves
June 24, 1994
The World Bank is attempting to take control of
important international germplasm collections, according
to a statement released by over 40 environmental and
development nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
attending a meeting on biological diversity in Nairobi
this week. The germplasm collections, comprising almost
half a million samples of crop biodiversity, are a vital
resource for future plant breeding and for the present
and future stability and resilience of farming systems
that are not chemically dependent. The collections were
donated by farmers in developing countries and account
for 40% of the total worldwide unique collections of
agricultural genetic materials. The NGOs attending the
Nairobi meeting, which is the Second Session of the
Intergovernmental Committee of the Convention on
Biological Diversity, want the committee to ensure that
control over these germplasm collections is given to an
intergovernmental body that is based on a one nation -
one vote system.
The germplasm collections were gathered by the
Consultative Group on International Agricultural
Research (CGIAR), which is an informal group of donors
supporting 18 International Agricultural Research
Centres. These centers developed and promoted Green
Revolution technologies throughout the world. Co-
sponsored jointly by United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), United Nations Development Program
and the World Bank, the CGIAR has no formal legal
identity and works on the basis of consensus among its
mainly industrialized country members. The legal status
of the germplasm collections held by the International
Agricultural Research Centres is uncertain and could be
expropriated by various parties, although the CGIAR
claims they are held "in trust" for the benefit of the
international community. Recently, an agreement to
establish intergovernmental authority over these
collections was negotiated between CGIAR and FAO, and
was meant to give an internationally agreed meaning to
the idea of "trusteeship." This agreement was to have
been endorsed at a meeting of the CGIAR in New Delhi,
India, in late May.
At the New Delhi meeting, in the context of the worst
budgetary crisis in the 23 years history of CGIAR, the
World Bank came forward with a number of linked
initiatives. Bank officials announced they were
"forgiving" outstanding CGIAR debts and offered to
increase group's funding to $40 million (U.S. dollars).
In addition, the Bank offered to match new funds from
other donors up to a combined total of $60 million and
to create a new $2.5 billion fund (over five years) for
national agricultural research linked to the CGIAR.
However, the Bank also announced the formation of a
CGIAR Steering Committee chaired by the Bank and the
appointment of another Bank official as Chair of the new
Finance Committee. At the same time, the Bank scuttled
ratification of the agreement between CGIAR and the FAO
and announced that the Bank itself would provide
leadership in this matter. Subsequently, Bank officials
announced that they are holding separate discussions
with the recently established World Trade Organization
about the intellectual property provisions in the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the
disposition of the group's germplasm.
The NGOs meeting in Nairobi maintain that the World Bank
is not a legitimate custodian of or policy maker for
genetic resources donated by developing countries. The
groups feel that the Bank sees the CGIAR as a major
instrument for the imposition of its own agricultural
programs and policies and as an important private sector
technology conduit. They point out that in the Bank's
view, CGIAR's major asset is its vast treasure trove of
genetic materials.
While meeting in Nairobi on 18-19 June 1994, the NGOs
made the following recommendations to protect germplasm
collections:
1. The ultimate control of germplasm collections held
outside of the country of origin, whether collected
before or after the coming into force of the Convention
on Biological Diversity, must rest with an
intergovernmental body governed by the principle of one
nation - one vote and with full recognition of farmers'
rights.
2. The critical social and economic importance of the
genetic materials that nurture people -- including
animals, plants, and micro-organisms used for food,
fiber, pharmaceutical and other purposes -- should be
recognized through a protocol to the Biodiversity
Convention.
3. CGIAR's germplasm collections gathered both prior to
the Biodiversity Convention and since, must come under
the intergovernmental authority of a body as described
above.
4. The initiative by the World Bank to take control of
the CGIAR gene banks should be rejected, and the CGIAR-
FAO agreements should be concluded expeditiously.
5. Ultimately, the genetic resources held in the CGIAR
gene banks, as well as all other ex situ collections,
should come under the rules of the Biodiversity
Convention.
Sources: Press Release, RAFI, GRAIN and TWN, June 20,
1994; Statement from NGOs submitted to ICCBD delegates,
June 20, 1994; Financial Times, June 21, 1994.
Contacts: Rural Advancement Foundation International-
USA, P.O. Box 655, Pittsboro NC 27312; phone 919-542-
1396; fax 919-542-2460; email rafiusa@igc.apc.org;
Genetic Resources Action International; Jonqueres 16 6
D, E-08003 Barcelona, Spain; phone (34-3) 310-5909; fax
(34-3) 310-5952; email grain@gn.apc.org;
Third World Network, 87 Cantonment Road, 10250 Penang,
Malaysia; phone (60-4) 373-511; fax (60-4) 368-106.
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