IAS
Rabat Declaration
on
Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering
for Development in the Islamic World
Adopted in Rabat
(Morocco)
on the
8 Sha'aban 1422
24 October 2001
PREAMBLE
WHEREAS Allah
(God) Subhanahu-Wa-Ta'ala has created Man in the best of forms, provided
him with the abilities and resources to improve his well-being, endowed
him with reason, dignified and honoured him, and granted mankind the
inheritance of life and resources of nature;
WHEREAS Allah
has made the pursuit of knowledge an absolute obligation and its acquisition
a source of pride and dignity, and has urged human beigns to seek,
utilize and disseminate it for benefit of humanity;
WHEREAS the teachings
of Islam emphasize the importance of the well-being of man, and underline
the fact that Man's relationship to the universe and to his fellow-man
must be one of stewardship and complementarity, respectively, and
never one of mastery;
WHEREAS the Holy
Quran is replete with numerous references to biological sciences;
WHEREAS Muslim
contribution to the establishment and advancement of biological sciences
throughout the period of Islamic renaissance has been significant;
WHEREAS Islam
promotes a needed ecological balance between all living beings and
their life-sustaining environment;
WHEREAS the Islamic
Value-System provides a unique Code of Ethics, which should govern
our outlook on contemporary Genetic Engineering issues, such as Cloning
and Organ Transplants;
WHEREAS Biotechnology
and Genetic Engineering have now become areas at the forefront of
basic and applied research and are continuously reaching new levels
in advancement and complexity;
AND WHEREAS the
majority of OIC and developing countries have not mapped out a stand
on the science or ethical features of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering
and are lagging behind in these areas;
NOW, THEREFORE,
the Islamic Academy of Sciences:
(a) REALIZING
that the applications of biotechnology could have far-reaching effect
and favourable impact in the developing countries, many of which suffer
from large and rapidly increasing populations, chronic food-shortages
and malnutrition, poor health, and profound environmental problems;
(b) ACKNOWLEDGING
that Biotechnology and Genetics Engineering are areas where rapid
and meaningful advancement can readily be made by OIC countries, especially
in attaining food security, promoting the pharmaceutical industry;
(c) APPRECIATING
the activities being carried out by many governments, academic institutions,
and non-governmental organizations in the fields of Biotechnology
and Genetic Engineering, especially in Agriculture;
(d) ACKNOWLEDGING
that advancement in Biotechnology and Genetics Engineering underlines
the importance of investment in basic sciences, which are the backbone
of sustainable S&T advancement, especially as there is very little
biotechnological R&D in the developing countries;
(e) ACKNOWLEDGING
the significance of the sequencing of the human genome, an event compared
to man's landing on the moon and described as an historic milestone
in the history of science that will enhance research in human biology
focused on diseases such as Cancer, Alzheimer, Diabetes and Cardiovascular
disorders; and
(f) TAKING IN CONSIDERATION
the Universal Declaration on the Genome and Human Rights, adopted
by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1997, which is the first worldwide
instrument in the field of biology, medicine, and genetics;
MOREOVER
(a) OBSERVING WITH CONCERN the
lack of a long-term Biotechnology policy at the national level in
most OIC member countries;
(b) NOTING WITH CONCERN
the limited number of enrolled students and quality-graduates in Biotechnology-related
disciplines, as well as the poor level of instruction at most institutions;
(c) BEING CONCERNED at the lack
of adequate infrastructure for BT-research available in most OIC countries,
to sustain this growing sector;
(d) NOTING WITH CONCERN the absence
of co-ordination between the various agencies involved in Biotechnological
research and application;
(e) NOTING the
lack of up-to-date curricula in Biotechnology for all stages of the
educational process, as well as the shortage of suitably qualified
and motivated and teaching staff;
(f) NOTING WITH CONCERN that
the major breakthroughs in molecular biology and genetic engineering
have raised many serious legal, ethical and social questions;
(g) COGNIZANT of the fact that
genetic engineering has been defined as an unnatural insertion of
a foreign sequence of genetic codes in the midst of the orderly sequence
of genetic codes developed through millions of years, which is a profound
intervention, with unpredictable consequences;
THE ISLAMIC ACADEMY
OF SCIENCES MEETING, AT RABAT (MOROCCO) DURING OCTOBER 2001, CALLS
UPON the international community to:
(i) EXTEND, in the spirit of
co-operation, all possible help to developing countries in the area
of technology-transfer, as well as debt relief to enable them to divert
more resources to research in critical areas of Biotechnology;
(ii) CONTINUE to support research
projects of importance in the developing countries;
(iii) SET-UP an appropriate mechanism
for the protection of national genetic resources;
AND CALLS UPON the leaders and
decision-makers of Islamic countries to:
(a) RE-DEFINE national developmental
objectives in the area of science and technology, especially Biotechnology
and Information Technology, in view of globalization and free-trade
arrangements that are being adopted by countries;
(b) DEFINE their BT strategies
and, where possible, incorporate them into national S&T policies;
(c) INTRODUCE BT
awareness programmes at various stages of the educational process;
(d) INTRODUCE appropriate legislation,
including tax and customs-exemptions, to promote the various aspects
of the pharmaceutical industry;
(e) ESTABLISH linkages
and partnerships between OIC member countries, in Biotechnology and
Genetic Engineering, to facilitate inter-country co-operation by governments,
industry and academia;
(f) ALLAY fears
that stringent patents and intellectual property rights, legislation
and countries' accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) could
cripple drug manufactures in OIC countries;
AND WOULD MOREOVER
(a) ASSERT that exploiting a
technology, which may give rise to unexpected substances that could
be damaging to Health, before this risk has been carefully investigated,
should be avoided;
(b) ASSERT that exploiting a
technology that may have irreparable environmental effects, before
it has been proven that the products do not cause significant harm
to the environment, shoud be avoided;
(c) ASSERT that it is not appropriate
to expose people and the environment to even the smallest hazard,
considering that present genetically engineered products are of little
value;
(d) ASSERT that it is not right
to justify the exploitation of a potentially hazardous technology
today because of a scientifically unfounded principle that it might
generate useful products in the future;
(e) ASSERT that if genetically
engineered organisms are to gain greater acceptance, decisions that
address concerns associated with the application of biotechnology
to agriculture must be science-based;
AND FURTHER CALLS UPON the relevant
OIC, and other, organisations to:
(a) ENCOURAGE and support OIC-based
BT and pharmaceutical industrial ventures;
(b) DEVELOP databases of BT and
GE human resources in OIC countries, to facilitate appraisal of national
strengths and weaknesses;
(c) SUPPORT inter-disciplinary
research and development in various fields related to BT and ensure
the requisite development of human resources;
(d) PROVIDE funds as well as
governmental support for diagnostic as well as curative medical applications
of BT, Gene Therapy, etc.;
(e) CONTINUE to address developments
in basic sciences and not to marginalize this backbone of S&T
development;
(f) ENCOURAGE and promote the
publication of quality research-material of OIC scientists especially
in the area of Biotechnology in internationally renowned journals
and on the Internet;
AND FURTHER PROPOSES
(i) THE CREATION OF AN ISLAMIC BT
FUND to help poorer OIC countries to transfer Biotechnology know-how
from other countries and develop and utilise it to achieve national
food-security;
(ii) THE ENFORCEMENT OF A MORATORIUM
on the release of genetically engineered organisms and on the use
of Genetically Engineered (GE) foods, until sufficient knowledge has
been acquired to make it possible to judge how far it is safe for
human Health and the Environment to exploit this technology; and
(iii) THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTI
- DISCIPLINARY GROUP of scientists, technologists and Islamic
scholars to study the various facets of social and ethical issues
emanating from the recommendations of this conference.
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