57. After the possibility of patenting life forms arose in the 1980s, biopiracy increased exponentially with the adoption of the TRIPS Agreement and, in particular, its Article 27.3(b) in 1995, which allowed for the patentability of life forms or parts thereof, such as genetic resources, based on their mere isolation.
58. As a result, many countries put forward initiatives capable of bringing about a fairer approach under the right of access to genetic resources, but failed to stop this undue appropriation of genetic resources. These efforts led to the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992 and the Nagoya Protocol in 2014, among other endeavours.
59. Recent research has shown that biopiracy continues to grow exponentially and the advance of new technologies has now made it easier to patent genes by merely isolating them. It is therefore becoming increasingly important for action to be taken globally so that this situation may continue.
60. Patenting life forms is objectionable in many of the world's cultures and should be prevented. Priority actions should include the initiation of negotiations at the WTO to make the disclosure of the source of origin of genetic resources a mandatory requirement under international trade rules; and Article 27.3(b) should be amended to exclude the possibility of patenting genetic resources by merely isolating or characterizing them.
61. We encourage Members affected by this issue to initiate actions in this Organization with the aim of putting an end to this practice, which is detrimental to the interests of many developing countries.
62. Bolivia supports updating the factual notes prepared by the Secretariat as proposed by Ecuador, an initiative that has been raised many times here in the Council.
