65. The representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela supported Bolivia's proposal to review Article 27.3(b) of the TRIPS Agreement. Domestic legislation, especially Articles 124 and 127 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela banned the registration of patents on all life forms. Review of Article 27.3(b), as provided for in the last sentence of Article 27.3(b) and as required by the Ministerial Conference, was part of the Doha mandate. Under Article 27.3(b), it was possible for Members to exclude from patentability plants and animals other than micro-organisms, and essentially biological process for the production of plants or animals other than non-biological and microbiological processes, which was against Venezuela's Constitution, and contradicted the principles related to food safety, values of the country, and the protection of indigenous peoples' knowledge and folklore, genetic resources and ancestral knowledge. Therefore, it was time for Members to modify or clarify Article 27.3(b). In addition to the constitutional and legal concerns over the patenting of life forms, there was also an ethical concern. While highlighting the sovereignty of the State and indigenous peoples over their biological resources, he said that the authority to determine the access to the genetic resources lay with national governments and was subject to national legislation. In other words, genetic resources and traditional knowledge should not come within the IP framework as it was against the sovereignty of Venezuela.
