Thailand Law Journal 2009 Spring Issue 1 Volume 12

HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS FOR THE PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND INDIGENOUS RESOURCES (Part II)

By Panumas Kudngaongarm*

III A BRIEF HISTORICAL APPROACH TO THE IMPORTANCE OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND INDIGENOUS RESOURCES PROTECTION

An historical approach will consider the importance of traditional knowledge, indigenous and genetic resources and the flow of genetic resources from developing countries to developed countries.

 A The Importance of Traditional Knowledge, Indigenous Resources and Genetic Resources
After colonisation and WWII were over, world society stepped into a new economic order. Numerous international institutions or multilateral co-operations in form of governmental and non-governmental organizations have emerged, for instance, the United Nations and its subsidiary organisations (i.e. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Food and Agriculture Organizations (FAO), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNHCHR), etc), and the World Trade Organizations (WTO). The specific purposes of the institutions are based on their statutes to set up the mutual co-operation amongst nations.

Modern agricultural production techniques have replaced age-old farming techniques, particularly in western countries. Biotechnology has manipulated productivities, disease resistance and plants varieties. On the other hand, the agricultural sectors in most developing countries are still following age-old farming practices. Their agricultural productions are based on natural waters, managing disease and insect pests and low levels of technology.

In the health care sector, medicinal plants are still very essential for peoples in less developed and developing countries. Eighty percent of the peoples still rely only on traditional medicines obtained from local plants. Eighty five percent of traditional medicine involves the use of plant extracts.¹ Moreover, there are some two hundred chemicals extracted in pure form from approximately ninety plant species used in medicine throughout the world. About half of the world’s medicinal compounds are still derived or obtained from plant sources.² The medicinal plants are of great significance to both developed and developing countries. Those resources are known as genetic resources.

It is very difficult to estimate the number of genetic resources. Academics, such as W. Lesser, state:
 
Scientists indeed have experienced great difficulty estimating the number of types of living organisms to within even an order of magnitude. Generally accepted estimates range from 3.6 million to 111.6 million species, with a ‘work’ figure of 13.6 million (Hawksworth and Kalin-Arroyo, 1995), of which about 1.4 million have been described (Wilson, 1992).³

Developing countries are rich in traditional knowledge, especially genetic resources.⁴  The value of traditional knowledge, indigenous and genetic resources are both in economic and cultural.⁵ Traditional knowledge and indigenous resources hold an increasing economic importance to indigenous peoples and local communities, for instance, traditional knowledge of the biodiversity and genetic resources in the local flora and fauna has contributed to the productivity of various industries.⁶

This article is published with the kind permission of Panumas Kudngaongarm, Professor, Ph.D. Candidate, School of Law, the University of New England, Australia. (Lecturer, School of Law, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Thailand.). This article was presented at the Inaugural Conference of the Asian Society of International law: International Law in Asia-Past, Present and Future.