Biopiracy in the context of biodiversity legislation

Abstract

Biodiversity constitutes a heritage of high economic value, capable of propelling several sectors of the economy. Brazil, a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), approved Law No. 13.123/2015 in fulfilment of its obligations under the Convention; that law provides for access to the genetic heritage, for the protection of and access to associated traditional knowledge, and for the sharing of benefits from the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Brazil also ratified the Nagoya Protocol. Biopiracy is the misappropriation of a country's genetic heritage and traditional knowledge and has long threatened the entire structure of genetic heritage protection. With little deliberation among the main players in the innovation system — academia, government and industry — Law No. 13.123 was intended to promote the protection of this Brazilian heritage, but has failed in that regard. The scope of the article is to analyse biopiracy as a hindrance to the concepts and to the fulfilment of the purpose of the biodiversity legislation, and the impact it causes on the development of innovation and R&D, especially in the biotechnology field. The methodology used is descriptive and exploratory research, based on primary sources, legislation, literature and historical analysis.