October 4, 2019

59th Series of Meetings of the WIPO Assemblies, Agenda Item 20: Report on the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC)

The crucial role played by indigenous communities in relationship with their ancestral lands calls for a different model of development which takes into consideration the connection between the human person and the environment, a model which finds important elements in many indigenous customs and values. An eventual international legal instrument should guarantee the achievement of equitable economic participation of native populations in the benefits coming from the commercial exploitation of biological resources and the promotion of effective means of ensuring respect for the collective ownership of traditional knowledge. The ethical challenge is that of reconciling the various rights and interests at stake in such a way that the legitimate economic interest does not compromise higher values such as the social function of inventions and knowledge and the rights of the peoples from which the knowledge and resources originate.
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