Miracle or menace? : biotechnology and the third world / by Robert Walgate.
- Walgate, Robert
- Date:
- [1990]
Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Credit: Miracle or menace? : biotechnology and the third world / by Robert Walgate. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![Chapter 10: Private and public biotechnology 147 identified key issues in agricultural biotechnology and made extensive recommendations [3]. The advisors revealed a strong inclination towards support for the involvement of private industry — both indigenous and transnational — and for the use of patents. Some key points: • On the role of the private sector: — The new challenge to donor agencies, the lARCs and governments will be to develop innovative mechanisms to transfer technology from the industrial world's private sector to developing countries. — To help in this, new funding mechanisms should be created to encourage a greater role for the private sector, including multinationals and local private interests, in biotechnology in developing countries. • On patents and the negotiation of technology transfers: — The lack of patent protection in many developing countries is a major disincentive for private sector investments in biotechnology, both by local private sector companies and by transnational coфorations. — The lARCs should be assisted in identifying advantages to be gained by patenting of their significant inventions, as a crucial card to play in negotiations with private sector interests. — The World Bank should develop negotiating skills in this area, and establish a Biotechnology Transfer Unit which would work on behalf of consortiums of developing countries, acting as a broker and advisor to obtain access to critical technologies likely to affect important commodities. • On regulations covering the release of engineered organisms: — National and international regulations should be developed, and differences among them reduced. Legitimate public concern over environmental and health dangers could profoundly affect the development of biotechnology in different countries, and appropriate regulations are essential. — A stringent, safe and efficient regulatory process for new experiments and products will be an advantage for countries moving into biotechnology research or application. • On the lARCs: — Several of the lARCs have taken little interest in biotechnology so far. But they must establish substantial programmes by the end of the century if they are to continue](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b18035644_0158.JP2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
