Science and Research
A discussion paper prepared by the Commonwealth-State Working Group on Access to Australia's Biological Resources
October 1996
The discussion paper 'Managing Access to Australia's Biological Resources: Developing a Nationally Consistent Approach' was prepared by Commonwealth, State and Territory officials, to contribute to continuing domestic and international policy development on access to biological resources.
With the entry into force of the Convention on Biological Diversity in December 1993, countries have increasingly focussed on issues associated with access to biological resources, and more specifically access to genetic resources, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of these resources. Information on some of the international developments involving access to genetic resources can be found on the Internet, in particular the sites for the Convention on Biological Diversity (http://www.biodiv.org/) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (http://web.icppgr.fao.org/).
The Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments agreed in 1994 to examine issues of access to Australia's biological resources. The discussion paper which has been developed through this process presents information and some possible options for managing access to Australia's biological resources. It does not examine existing commercial practices such as forestry, fisheries and agriculture, but does consider potentially valuable genetic resources such as foods, disease resistant plants and biologically active substances. The views expressed in the paper are not endorsed by any government and are without prejudice to any ongoing domestic policy development on the issues raised.
This paper presents a range of views as put forward by different members of the Commonwealth-State Working Group, and DOES NOT have the endorsement of any government.
1. Background
2. What are 'biological resources'
4. Formation of the Commonwealth-State Working Group
5. Current mechanisms for managing access
6. Ownership, sovereignty and control
7. A 'nationally consistent approach'
8. Benefits of a nationally consistent approach to access management
9. Principles for nationally consistent access management
10. Mechanisms for the management of access to biological resources
11. Desirable features of a nationally consistent access management scheme
12. The preferred approach - the multi-purpose contract system
13. Diagram 1 - The multi-purpose contract system
15. Advantages of the multi-purpose contract system
16. Disadvantages of the multi-purpose contract system
17. Other issues
17.1 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' issues
17.2 Education of stakeholders
17.3 Exclusive rights
17.4 Use of revenue for conservation purposes
17.5 Enforcement
18.1 Ongoing monitoring and coordination
18.2 Integrated Australia-wide databases of information
19. Conclusion
A1. Access to Australia's Biological Resources, March 1994
A4. Legislation affecting access to biological resources
A5. International mechanisms impacting on access to biological resources
The full document is also available as a Word file.