Traditional Knowledge

The importance of protecting the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities (TK) is increasingly recognized in international forums. The immediate task is to ensure that the benefits of cumulative innovation associated with TK accrue to their holders while enhancing their socio-economic development. Frequently TK is used and appropriated without the prior informed consent of the holders.

TK is valuable first and foremost to TK-holding local communities who depend upon it for their livelihoods and well-being, as well as for enabling them to sustainably manage their local ecosystems. According to the World Health Organization, up to 80 per cent of the world's population depends on traditional medicine for its primary health needs. In India, for example, there are 600,000 licensed medical practitioners of classical traditional health systems and over one million traditional community-based health workers. Over 90 per cent of food in sub-Saharan Africa is produced using customary farming practices. For those comprising the poorest segments of societies, particularly women, indigenous people and rural inhabitants of developing countries, traditional knowledge is indispensable for survival. This is especially true in many LDCs.

TK benefits national economies and has the potential to benefit them still further. Such TK-based products as handicrafts, medicinal plants, traditional agricultural products, and non-wood forest products (NWFPs) are traded in both domestic and international markets and already provide substantial benefits for exporter countries. For example, some 150 NWFPs, including rattan, cork, essential oils, forest nuts, and gum arabic, are traded internationally in significant quantities. TK is also used as an input into modern industries such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, agriculture, food additives, industrial enzymes, biopesticides, and personal care. In this case, most of the value added is captured by firms based in developed countries whose advanced scientific and technological capabilities make this possible.

Possible instruments for the protection of TK include traditional/customary law, modern intellectual property rights instruments, sui generis systems, documentation of TK, and instruments directly linked to benefit-sharing. In addition to national systems, the protection of TK and equitable sharing of the benefits derived from the use of biodiversity resources and associated TK may also require measures by user countries and cooperation at the multilateral level.

While protection of TK is necessary, it is not sufficient to foster its preservation and further development. To harness TK for development and trade, developing countries need assistance to build national capacities in terms of raising awareness on the importance and potential of TK for development and trade; developing institutional and consultative mechanisms on TK protection and TK-based innovation; and facilitating the identification and marketing of TK-based products and services.

Expert Meeting in Geneva

UNCTAD held an Expert Meeting on Systems and National Experiences for Protecting Traditional Knowledge, Innovations and Practices on 30 October - 1 November 2000 in Geneva

The Meeting generated a wide-ranging exchange of national experiences and views between experts who have been actively involved in or studied issues related to the protection of traditional knowledge, innovations and practices (TK). The experts addressed the objectives of TK protection systems and possible means of achieving those ends, including prior informed consent, access and benefit sharing mechanisms, strengthening customary/traditional law, using intellectual property instruments, developing sui generis systems, documenting traditional knowledge, as well as measures to encourage TK-based innovations and the development and export of TK-derived products (where appropriate). For each of these issues, the meeting drew out lessons learned regarding best practices and pitfalls to be avoided at the national level and explore possible avenues for international cooperation and support. Presentations by country experts provided country-specific experiences and views.

Ongoing and future activities

The Meeting's outcome will be brought to the attention of the Commission on Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities, at its fifth session, to be held from 19 to 23 February 2001. The Commission may establish ways by which UNCTAD could, in cooperation with relevant intergovernmental organizations and other partners, address the protection of traditional knowledge, innovations and practices, in particular through capacity building, especially in LDCs.

In preparing this meeting, the UNCTAD Secretariat has cooperated closely with the secretariats of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the World Intellectual Property Organization.