Food security and access and benefit sharing laws relating to genetic resources: promoting synergies in national and international governance

Are the national laws regulating access to genetic resources that countries have enacted in exercise of their sovereign rights accorded by the Convention on Biological Diversity jeopardising food security by failing to take into account the distinctive features of genetic resources for food and agriculture? If so what can be done about it? What are the obstacles to doing so? And how can they be overcome, especially in the context of the present ongoing negotiations for an international regime on access and benefits sharing under the biodiversity convention? This article examines the impact of the national access laws and other instruments on the free access and exchange of these genetic resources and hence on the maintenance of agricultural biological diversity upon which food security hinges so critically. It highlights the obstacles that stand in the way of developing countries facilitating access to their genetic resources and proposes a multilateral non-market-orientated approach to overcome them.     

国家管辖外深海遗传资源的归属与利用——兼析以知识产权为基础的惠益分享制度

深海是地球表面遗传资源最为丰富的区域,国家管辖范围外深海遗传资源的归属和利用在国际法的角度目前没有明确规定,各国从各自利益出发对其提出了不同的主张。国家管辖外深海遗传资源应当是继国际海底区域之后人类又一共同继承的遗产,我国应当从现实出发,积极推动以国际海底管理局为主导,以知识产权为基础的惠益分享模式的建立,维护发展中国家在新一轮海洋资源争夺战中的利益。     

The Climate Change Regime: An Enviro-Economic Problem and International Administrative Law in the Making

The climate change problem, or global warming, has gained a prominent place on the international political agenda, since the mid-1980s, when it first attracted political attention. The problem was initially perceived mainly as an environmental problem that could be resolved by technological solutions, its current perception, this essay argues, is best characterized as that of an enviro-economic problem. A perception that is exemplified by the ongoing negotiations for the development of economic mechanisms to tackle the problem. The climate change arena is a complex one, involving dichotomies between developed and developing countries, between fossil fuel producing and importing countries and between small island developing states and other states. This essay outlines the interests that play a role in the climate change negotiations and discusses the international climate change regime as contained in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol. It concludes that the climate change negotiations are complicated by the fact that the negotiators, in addition to developing new substantive rules for a complex problem, are involved in developing new systemic rules for the international legal system. These new systemic rules have more in common with rules of national systems of public or administrative law than with traditional rules of international law, which have many similarities with national systems of contract law.     

论国际河流后开发国家的权利与义务

国际河流后开发国家特殊的地理位置使其对国际河流的开发会对先开发国家的既得利益产生重要影响.国家对位于其领土内的国际水资源享有主权是后开发国家对国际河流享有开发利用权最主要的法理基础,“先占主义”理论在国际实践中鲜获支持,国际仲裁、判例进一步确认了后开发国家开发利用国际水资源的权利和义务.故国际河流后开发国家享有开发利用国际河流的权利,同时也应承担相应的国际责任和义务.我国作为大部分国际河流的后开发国家也应受到启示,以实现国际水资源的可持续利用.     

人类遗传资源的法律保护问题探讨

如何有效地对人类遗传资源进行保护成为各国尤其是发展中国家面临的一项重要任务和难题。人类遗传资源具有不同于传统资源的一些特点,因此,需要从不同的法律角度出发寻找相应的对策。包括:利用人格权法保护人类遗传资源提供者的人格权;利用知识产权法保护人类遗传资源提供者的应得利益;利用行政法规保护人类遗传资源的合理获取和使用;利用国际公约对人类遗传资源的开发利用进行跨国保护。     

论我国在遗传资源保护国际谈判中的立场和对策

遗传资源的保护和利用,特别是其获取和惠益分享等问题一直以来为国际社会和世界各国所关注.旨在探讨为了保护和持续利用遗传资源,我国在有关的国际谈判中对有关问题应采取的立场和对策.     

200海里以外大陆架法律制度与中国

联合国第三次海洋法会议经过艰苦卓绝的谈判诞生了人类历史上迄今为止最为全面、最为完整的海洋法典——1982年《联合国海洋法公约》。《公约》创设了以第76条和附件二为核心的200海里以外大陆架的法律制度,使沿海国得以在大陆架界限委员会的指导和协助下依据国际法建立范围最大、也是最后的国家管辖海域。地理位置相对不利的中国虽然存在一定的机遇,但来自周边各国的严峻挑战使得中国在东海、南海的200海里以外大陆架的划界异常艰难。中国需要在国家层面从历史性权力和全球战略的视角提出中国未来海洋权益的目标和对策。     

国家管辖范围外区域海洋遗传资源管理机制探究

国家管辖范围外区域蕴藏着丰富的海洋遗传资源,但现有的国际法尚未对其管理机制作出明确规定。近年来,国际社会在多个论坛对此问题展开讨论,并提出了一系列可供参考的解决进路。其中,扩大管理局的职能范围,使其能对海洋遗传资源进行有效管理具有诸多优势,但与发达国家的利益相左,实施难度较大;采用区域性管理机制能使特定区域纳入法律的运行轨道,却容易导致情势的碎片化;实施短效管理机制虽能防止形势恶化,可并不具有拘束力;制定一部《海洋法公约》的执行协定无疑是解决问题的最佳方式,也是未来的发展方向。     

Technology investment, bargaining, and international environmental agreements

If countries are to engage in international environmental cooperation, they must bargain over the distribution of gains. When future bargaining over pollution abatement is expected, how should a country decide on public technology investments to reduce the domestic cost of pollution abatement? I find that while countries tend to underinvest because they fail to internalize the global benefits of new technology, the magnitude of the problem depends on a country’s bargaining power. Powerful countries underinvest less frequently, because they expect to reap most of the global benefits from new technology in the international negotiations. I also investigate the effectiveness of a simple reciprocal technology agreement. I find that it can help solve the underinvestment problem, and this beneficial effect is particularly pronounced in the case of powerful countries. These findings imply that changing the bargaining protocol on climate change to the benefit of powerful countries may help secure the necessary technology investments.     

Reinforcement of multilevel governance dynamics: creating momentum for increasing ambitions in international climate negotiations

Compared to the disappointment of the 2009 climate summit in Copenhagen, the results of the recent Conferences of the Parties can be regarded as positive progress. This was made possible due to lesson drawing and learning among states. Recent evidence from the UNFCCC negotiations suggests that countries began to reflect on the “Copenhagen experience.” They are setting up domestic climate legislation in the form of low carbon development plans and share their knowledge and experiences in the international climate change negotiations. Country representatives engage in workshops and roundtables to showcase their mitigation plans and low carbon development initiatives, thereby raising ambitions and creating group pressure on other countries. This article examines how the diffusion of policies across countries is motivated and facilitated by knowledge transfer and learning within multilevel-reinforcing governance dynamics between the domestic level and international negotiations. It analyzes how changes in the negotiation setting from confrontational formal negotiations to a more open forum and bottom-up pledge-and-review process, in combination with a positively framed win–win low carbon economic development narrative resulted in the diffusion of climate policies across developed and developing countries. Communicating these climate initiatives on the national level has shifted the debate. Countries emphasize less the win–lose perspective of economic costs and sacrifice. Thus, they focus less on the question of who should reduce emissions’, but identify co-benefits instead. The institutionalized knowledge sharing within the UNFCCC is also creating positive competitive dynamics among countries to increase their ambition and to take on a leadership role. This shift in the negotiations carries potential for a more ambitious aggregate negotiation outcome and opens up a window of opportunity.     

A nation's genes for a cure to cancer: evolving ethical, social and legal issues regarding population genetic databases

The advent of the human genome sequence has focused research on understanding underlying genetic links to complex diseases such as cancer, asthma and heart disease. In the past few years, individual countries, such as Iceland, Estonia, Singapore and the United Kingdom, have created national databases of their citizens' DNA for comparative research. Most recently, an international consortium including Nigeria, Japan, China and the United States launched a $100 million project called the International HapMap to map the human genome according to haplotypes, blocks of DNA that contain genetic variation. Such population genetic databases present challenging ethical, social and legal issues, yet regulation of genetic information has developed sporadically, from region to region, without a consistent international standard. Without a clear understanding of the consequences of genetic research in terms of individual and community-wide discrimination and stigmatization, genetic databases raise concerns about the protection of genetic information. This Note provides a survey of the evolving landscape of population genetic databases as a legislative and public policy tool for national and international regulators. It compares different approaches to regulating the collection and use of population genetic databases in order to understand what areas of consensus are formulating a foundation for an international standard. As the first population genetics project that will span multiple countries for the collection of DNA, the International HapMap has the potential to become an influential standard for the protection of population genetic information. This Note highlights issues among the national databases and the HapMap project that raise ethical, social and legal concerns for the future and recommends further protections for both individual donors and community interests.     

The Evolving and Multilayered EU–India Investment Relations—Regulatory Issues and Policy Conjectures

India and several EU member countries share a rich history of investment collaborations. The collaboration has been cemented with several formal agreements with individual EU members, and the recent negotiations with the trade bloc since June 2007 on a broad‐based Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) can be considered as a culmination of this process while ongoing WTO negotiations on Mode 3 commitments remain essential in terms of market opening. The present article analyzes the multi‐layered regulation of foreign investment against the backdrop of the evolving EU‐India economic relations. The 2009 Treaty of Lisbon gave a new competence to the EU which will impact ongoing negotiations with India whose global standing has been significantly changing in recent years. The economic vibrancy, coupled with large market size, has earned India greater relevance in several international forums, thereby making the future EU—India investment treaty one of the most promising investment agreements.     

试论国际环境法的共同但有区别的责任原则

共同但有区别的责任原则主要包涵两层意思:共同责任和区别责任。但共同责任和区别责任是一个不可分割的有机联系的统一整体,并分别具有丰富的内涵。确立共同但有区别的责任原则是国际环境保护事业的历史发展所使然。由于该原则体现了发展中国家维护自身权益和平等地参与国际谈判以解决全球环境问题的意愿,故而其对发展中国家具有较强的亲和力。该原则具有很强的实践品格,其适用范围主要局限于环境保护领域。它是正在形成和发展中的国际环境法的基本原则,也许在不远的将来能获得国际习惯法的法律地位和效力。     

竞争中立对我国国有企业的影响及法制应对

竞争中立政策的实施能够有效促进国有企业与民营企业之间的公平竞争,在优化社会资源配置的同时,提升国有企业自身的经营效益。目前我国国有企业在经营中仍享受着诸多的不当竞争优势,对此,应在结合域外制度经验的基础上,以竞争中立政策的适用主体与范围为切入点,依据竞争中立政策的基本要求,以政府职能分离规则、防止交叉补贴规则、透明度规则以及合理豁免规则为基本导向,对我国当前的相关法律制度进行检讨和完善。竞争中立政策要求我们必须立足于当前经济发展的实际,积极参与国际谈判,争取话语权,为今后我国国有企业乃至整个社会经济的健康、持续发展创造良好的市场环境和法制保障。     

Realizing access and benefit sharing from use of genetic resources between diverging international regimes: the scope for leadership

This article examines how access and benefit sharing (ABS) in international transactions with genetic resources can be achieved and how Norway contributes to their realization. Regarding the first question, progress on the ground has been slow, but important principles have been agreed within the convention on biological diversity (CBD) and its Nagoya Protocol (NP). Although domestic legislation is adopted, key user countries remain reluctant. They argue that the ABS regime needs to be supplemented with sector approaches within forums such as the Food and Agriculture Organization. In principle, this may sound logical, but sector approaches may risk undermining the ABS regime of the CBD/NP. The principle of access is more user-oriented and benefit sharing is weaker in the relevant FAO negotiations. Against this background, the future practical significance of the ABS regime remains uncertain. Norway has played an important leadership role in ABS within the CBD/NP framework. This stems in part from ‘fortunate circumstances’, as Norway has relatively few stakes in this issue area, but also includes strong normative elements: Norway’s inclination to support weaker part, the South. The Norwegian position has also been solidified by good coordination and strong institutional capacity among the actors involved. However, there are indications of a growing split in the Norwegian position along sector lines. We do not yet have sufficient empirical evidence that this is the case—but if it is, achieving an effective ABS regime may be even more difficult.     

国际贸易与国际劳工标准问题的历史演进及理论评析

国际劳工标准应否与国际贸易挂钩的争论由来已久,该问题依然是国际贸易谈判中的焦点问题之一,其实质在于发达国家意欲将国际劳工标准作为新的贸易保护手段。发达国家与发展中国家争议的理论依据是解读这一问题的关键。我国应加强国内劳动立法和执法,克服与避免此类贸易摩擦。     

An Evaluation of Pre-Kyoto Differentiation Proposals for National Greenhouse Gas Abatement Targets

Although the Kyoto Protocol has set a precedent for future climate negotiations, particularly with respect to differentiation of targets between countries, the current approach is likely to be insufficient as a foundation for future targets. A more systematic approach is deemed necessary to meet the challenges of negotiating new targets after 2012 as well as involving the USA and perhaps developing countries. We argue that better negotiation tools can be helpful in this regard. We thus present an overview of more systematic differentiation methods for national greenhouse gas reduction targets. We draw from the proposals that were submitted in the climate negotiations from 1995 to 1997 leading up to the Kyoto Protocol, the EU's Triptique approach for internal differentiation of targets, and three proposals discussed in the literature on fairness principles. The most promising and helpful proposals for future negotiations are given particular attention: the second proposal by Japan, the French proposal, the Norwegian proposal, the Brazilian proposal, and Triptique. A numerical illustration of the former three together with the Sovereignty, Egalitarian, and Ability to Pay fairness principles is provided. Using resemblance to the Kyoto Protocol to measure political feasibility, we find that the proposals rank in the order; (1) the second Japanese; (2) the French; (3) the Norwegian; (4) the Sovereignty; (5) the Ability to Pay; and (6) the Egalitarian, the last being particularly infeasible.     

我国知识产权法律与国家发展政策的整合

内容提要:我国就知识产权保护议题在与发达国家谈判的过程中屡遭挫败,甚至制定出“超国际标准”的知识产权保护规范。知识产权法的立法意旨在于奖励创造与发明,进而促进科学及文化的进步,但是与发达国家一致的知识产权保护标准,并不能使发展中国家从中获益。然而并非所有的发达国家或国际组织在思考国际间知识产权保护政策的走向时均固守本位主义,他们的许多支持发展中国家利益的研究成果,对我国未来制定新的知识产权法规与政策均甚有助益。应就知识产权与人权之间发生的冲突,及其与宪法基本权冲突时的优位选择理论做出探索,以此作为我国日后制定知识产权法律及与发达国家进行相关谈判的政策依据。     

Special and Differential Treatments provisions in the TRIPs negotiations

Legal context: This article reviews the current status of World Trade Organization(WTO) negotiations on Special and Differential Treatments (S&DT)of developing countries in TRIPs, referred to here as the agreementon compulsory licensing. Key points: The main thrust of the article is that, although the negotiationshave reached equilibrium, there are still some open questionswhich may prove problematic in the future. Practical significance: The most important remaining question to be borne in mind bypractitioners is how the results reached might be incorporatedin TRIPs and made permanent, this impacting future pratice.