생물다양성 보전을 위한 유전자원에 대한 접근과 이익 공유: 향후 협상 과제와 국내 이행을 위한 입법적 조치

초록

In October 29th, 2010, a treaty called the Nagoya Protocol was concluded. The treaty deals with equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources which is one of the objectives that are established in the Biodiversity Convention. Until recently, the access to genetic resources and benefit sharing issues have been managed carelessly. However, the initiation of the Nagoya Protocol has arranged a new turning point. It has specified the obligation of the Parties for their access to genetic resources and sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of such resources(ABS) by elucidating the third core objective of the Biodiversity Convention: equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. In the perspective of a country being relatively more recognized as a user of genetic resources rather than a provider, the ratification of the treaty could likely be considered a burden for Korea. Further legislative, administrative and policy measures have to be adopted in order to provide equitable sharing of benefits for the use of genetic resources. If the treaty enters into effect, there are predictions that there would be oppositions in industries such as in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food and biotechnology. However, since the conservation of biodiversity is being widely supported by the international society and the protocol was taken effect recently, we have to be a certain stand in action. The obligatory provisions of the Nagoya Protocol is insufficiently specific which makes it hard to be directly applied domestically. For this reason, the Parties, whether a user or a provider, have to develop legislative, administrative and policy measures to implement the protocol. The Parties are provided with a large extent of discretion for their choosing among the three measures. However, among those, the legislative measure, which includes making related law, is considered to be most efficient in terms of the securing legal stability and transparency. The domestic legislative measure has to provide a base for the guarantee of ABS. The system has to be precise, transparent and efficient in terms of procedures and contents. Prior informed consent(PIC) and mutually agreed terms(MATs) could be considered a key measure to guarantee ABS. However, ABS could act as a pressure for the concerned Parties. For this reason, a elaborate system has to be designed in order to lessen the burden for users of the genetic resources and to fully implement the protocol. In this perspective, the bill 「Act on Access to and Benefit-Sharing of Genetic Resources」 by the 19th National Assembly is considered to be unsatisfactory. It seems that the bill was made in haste; merely to ratify the Nagoya Protocol before one’s eyes. Even, it could be explained to have drifted due to the egoistic involved authorities and the indifferent and irresponsible political circles. There is a high possibility in the near future when a ratification and a domestic legislative measure is in need. Undoubtedly, similar legislative bills like the bill 「Act on Access to and Benefit-Sharing of Genetic Resources」 could become rampant at this time. At this moment, a solution to both conserve biodiversity and promote our nation’s benefit has to be ruminated.

키워드