2016-07-19
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The Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Comunicações (MCTIC) [Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications] held the workshop “Brazilian-European Union Dialogue on the Nagoya Protocol – Building Bridges for Exchanging Genetic Resources”. The event took place on May 7 to 10, in Brasília and was part of the activities programmed for the action “Implementing the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and Sharing of Benefits - Fourth Stage”, sponsored by the European Union-Brazil Sector Dialogues Support Project, coordinated by the European Union Delegation to Brazil (DELBRA) and the Ministério do Planejamento, Desenvolvimento e Gestão (MP) [Ministry of Planning, Development and Management].
At the opening session of the workshop, Rui Ludovino, DELBRA First Councillor, reminded the participants that the objective of the Sector Dialogues Project is to put in place an exchange of knowledge between the European Union and Brazil on themes that are relevant to the development of the countries involved. “International cooperation is essential to address global themes such as this one, and the European Commission is committed to this dialogue”, he stated. The Deputy National Director for the Project, Giovana Veloso, said that “in this case, the partnership seeks to consolidate the regulatory framework on the theme”. On that occasion, Giovana Veloso also recalled that, on previous stages, the action on the Nagoya Protocol was coordinated by the Ministério do Meio Ambiente (MMA) [Ministry of the Environment] but is now being conducted by the MCTIC.
Ricardo Melamed, a representative the MCTIC Office of the General Coordinator for Biodiversity, highlighted the importance of the discussion. “It is important to Brazil, as a provider, and to the European Union, as a prospective user of genetic resources from Brazil, that the relevant legislation in both countries is understood by research & development partners from the public and private sectors”, he pointed out.
MMA Director for Genetic Heritage, Rafael Marques, spoke about how the matter requires urgent solutions. “Without traceability there can be no benefit sharing. It is necessary to develop economic policies geared towards biodiversity and sustainability. We are losing genetic heritage in a pace much faster than we could imagine”, he emphasized. The opening of the event was also attended by José Manuel Cabral, Acting Head at Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology; and Manuela da Silva, a representative of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation.
Results
According to Eliana Fontes, Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology researcher and coordinator of the event, the workshop addressed objective matters that are very important to implementing the Nagoya Protocol, which establishes basic rules for accessing the genetic resources of biodiversities from different countries, as well for sharing the benefits arising from this access.
Eliana Fontes further explained that “experts and stakeholders from Brazil and the European Union sought to understand the regulatory and procedural environment involving the transfer and international transportation of genetic resource samples in Brazil and the European Union. They presented several practical proposals such as: traceability procedures which provide for the identification of the origin of the genetic resources; a revision of the existing procedures with a view to simplifying them; suggestions for developing a Material Transfer Instrument form; and suggestions for applying the best practices in the field for handling and using genetic resources”.
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