The Bogève
Declaration
TOWARDS A PEOPLE-ORIENTED BIOTECHNOLOGY |
Twenty-eight participants
from 19 countries met at La Soleillette, Bogève, France, March
7-12, for the 1987 Dag Hammarskjöld Seminar on "The Socioeconomic
Impact of New Biotechnologies on Basic Health and Agriculture in the
Third World". The seminar was organized and sponsored by the
Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, Uppsala, Sweden, and the Rural Advancement
Fund International (RAFI), Pittsboro, USA, and Brandon, Canada, in
cooperation with the International Organization of Consumers Unions
(IOCU), Penang, Malaysia, the International Coalition for Development
Action (ICDA), Brussels, Belgium, and the United Nations Non-Governmental
Liaison Service (NGLS) in Geneva.
We, the seminar participants,
met in Bogève, France, to discuss the impact of new biotechnologies
on health and agriculture in the Third World, where the vast majority
of the world's people live. In discussing the nature of the new biotechnologies,
and their significance for humanity, we recognize that:
Biotechnology is a global
issue. It cannot be assigned such attributes as positive, negative,
or neutral. Like any other biotechnology, it is inextricably linked
to the society in which it is created and used, and will be as socially
just or injust as its milieu. Therefore, we conclude that in today's
world this most powerful new technology is more likely to serve the
interests of the rich and powerful than the needs of the poor and
powerless.
We fully recognize the
potential of biotechnology to imoprove the quality of life of humanity.
But it is important to emphasize the risks and hazards associated
with biotechnology, including serious and possibly irreversible health,
safety, environmental and socioeconomic consequences, as well as the
use of such technology in biological warfare.
In agriculture, for
instance, while biotechnology may promise to increase production and
reduce costs, it is more likely to accentuate inequalities in the
farm population, aggravate the problem of genetic erosion and uniformity,
undermine life-support systems, increase the vulnerability and dependence
of farmers and furhter concentrate the power of transnational agribusiness.
In health, for instance,
biotechnology promises more effective diagnostic tools and new ways
of preventing and curing diseases. However, the pharmaceutical industry
is more likely to focus on the most profitable commercial opportunities
and divert attention from basic health requierements.
In view of the above,
we make the following recommendations:
-
that we accept a
major role in the development of public discussion and policy
relatod to biotechnology;
-
that we monitor industry
activities in this field;
-
that we commit ourselves
to taking action in this field with the relevant UN bodies including
FAO, GATT, ILO, UNCTAD, UNEP, UNIDO, WHO and WIPO;
-
that we agree to
carry our concerns back to the networks with whom we are engaged,
such as Health Action International (HAI), International Baby
Food Action Network (IBFAN), Pesticide Action Network (PAN) and
Seeds Action Network (SAN) in order to facilitate cooperation;
-
that we seek to promote
appropriate technologies that are socially just and ecologically
sustainable, including regenerative agriculture, alternative crop
protection strategies, preventive medicine, recycling of resources
and wastes etc.
-
that a dialogue
be established to determine the real needs of society and the
main requirements for a national biotechnology strategy based
on these needs;
-
that the socioeconomic
and environmental implications of such a strategy be fully considered;
-
that the regulatory
requirements for the safe testing and introduction of the technology
be established and stringently enforced;
-
that the control
over the technology be assigned to the public sector and that
the monopolization of the technology by private interests be resisted.
AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL |
-
that, as at the national
level, a wider-ranging international discussion of the impact
of biotechnologies be encouraged and begun as soon as possible,
noting particularly the initiatives begun in UNIDO/ICGEB (The
International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology),
UNCSTD/ATAS (The Advance Technology Alert System) and other international
bodies;
-
that Third World
governments take measures to develop appropriate biotechnologies
and further explore the opportunities for South-South cooperation
in all aspects of the development and use of biotechnology, in
particular with regard to the utilization of genetic raw materials;
-
that the evolution
of research and development of biotechnology be closely monitored
so that the interests and rights of the Third World are kept foremost
in institutions working on these issues;
-
that changes in existing
intellectual property rights discussed in WIPO, which deny the
rights of the Third World, be closely monitored and that a major
revision of the Paris Convention be encouraged in order so safeguard
the interests of the Third World.
In conclusion we wish to reaffirm that
a rational biotechnology policy must be geared to meet the real needs
of the majority of the world's people and the creation of more equitable
and self-reliant societies while working in harmony with the environment.
Participants (names
of countries in the following list are given for identification purposes
only): Martin Abraham, IOCU (Malaysia); Karim Ahmed, Natural Resources
Defense Council (USA); Annelies Allain, IOCU/IBFAN (Malaysia); Erna
Bennett (Italy); Pierre Benoit Joly, SOLAGRAL (France); Praful Bidwai
(India); Tim Brodhead (Canada); Anwar Fazal, IOCU (Malaysia); Cary
Fowler, RAFI (USA); Daniel J. Goldstein (USA); Susantha Goonatilake
(Sri Lanka); Kwaku Haligah, PAFATU (Togo); Henk Hobbelink, ICDA (Spain);
Calestous Juma (Kenya); Martin Kenney (USA); Eva Lachkovics, RAFI(IIZ
(Austria); Thierry Lemaresquier, NGLS (Switzerland); Jiraporn Limpananont,
The Drug Study Group (Thailand); José Lutzenberger, Tecnologia
Convivial (Brazil); Pat Mooney, RAFI (Canada); Ofle Nordberg, DHF
(Sweden); Surendra Patel (Switzerland); Daniel Querol (Peru); René
Salazar, SIBAT (The Philippines); Pilar de Sevilla, Funcadion Natura
(Ecuador); Hope Shand, RAFI (USA); Mira Shiva, VHAI (India); Vandana
Shiva, Research Foundation for Science Technology and Natural Resource
Policy (India).
For more information, contact:
International Organization
of Consumers Unions (IOCU), Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific,
P.O. Box 1045, 10830 PENANG, Malaysia (Attention: Dr Martin Abraham)
or Rural Advancement Fund International (RAFI), P.O. Box 1029, PITTSBORO,
NC 27312, USA (Attention: Ms Hope Shand).
March 12, 1987
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