SECTION
ON MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
Preservation and
utilization of natural biodiversity in context of search for economically
valuable medicinal biota
(Technical Report)
The Manila Declaration
concerning Ethical Utilization of Biological Resources
Developed at the Seventh Asian Symposium on Medicinal
Plants, Spices and other Natural Products (ASOMPS
VII) which was held in Manila, Philippines, from 2-7 February 1992 and
was attended by 283 scientists from 37 countries.
Given that: -
1. the maintenance of biological and cultural
diversity is of global concern
2. developing countries are major centers of
biological and cultural diversity
3. there is increased interest in biological
material with medicinal and/or other economic value
4. indigenous peoples frequently possess knowledge
that provides a key to natural products of economic value
Recognizing that:
5. all national governments have sovereignty
over their biological resources
6. current practices of exploitation of biological
resources and indigenous knowledge are frequently inequitable, favoring
technologically advanced organizations and/or developed countries, to
the disadvantage of both conservation and development in the country
or region of origin
7. there is need for further investment in training
and technology in developing countries and for equitable partnerships
with developed countries in order to obtain new products from biological
material
8. there has been insufficient acknowledgments
of essential role that indigenous knowledge (i.e., intellectual property)
plays in identifying important natural products.
Thus, it is recommended that:
9. national governments, with advice from appropriate
professional organizations within the region, develop adequate legislation
to exercise control over the collection and export of biological materials
10. as a high priority, governments, international
agencies, multinational corporations and academic institutions, through
training, laboratory construction and technology transfer, should support
the development of human and material resources evaluation of indigenous
materials for conservation and for managed development
11. for all collecting, the authorizing agreement(s)
should include provision for any subsequent commercial development that
may eventually arise
12. internationally recognized professional societies
develop a code of ethics that facilitates the formation of equitable
partnerships in the development of new products from biological material
(see Appendix 1 )
13. mandatory royalty or licence agreements be established
to ensure fair and equitable distribution of benefits to the region
of origin
14. supply agreements should only be made by the
appropriate country organization and not with individuals in that country
15. in order to avoid over-exploitation of promising
species, the country organization should adopt methods to protect the
identity and provenance of its biological material
16. specific regulations be established to ensure
that the collection and export of biological material is adequately
monitored and controlled in the interests of the country supplying the
material. These should include the requirements that:
16.1 collections are made together with local
counterparts appointed by the country organizations involved
16.2 adequately annotated, preserved voucher specimens
of biological material are lodged in appropriate
national institutions
16.3 sufficient funds are provided by the external
organization to cover the support costs which may be incurred
16.4 if there is a threat of destructive harvesting
provision must be made for sustainable harvesting or development of
alternative supplies
16.5 the traditional knowledge of local participants
contributing to development of new natural products must be recognized
as significant intellectual property
APPENDIX 1. CODE OF ETHICS
FOR FOREIGN BIOLOGICAL SAMPLE COLLECTORS
The reference document was developed at the Botany
2000 Herbarium Curation workshop held in Perth,
Western Australia, 15-19 October 1990. It was modified
in April 1992 to cover other biological material.
The foreign biological sample collector should:
1. arrange to work with local scientist(s) and institute(s)
2. respect regulations of the country visited, for
example, by entering on a research/collecting visitor visa, not a tourist
visa, and by observing regulations for export of biological specimens,
quarantine, CITES, etc.
3. obtain official permission for all collections
in National Parks or protected areas
4. ascertain whether items used in scientific work
and which are difficult to obtain in the country of collection can be
contributed
5. when applying for a travel/study grant, include
equal travel expenses for local counterparts and an amount to cover
the cost of processing museum specimens or other costs of the visit
to the host institute
6. leave a complete set of adequately labeled duplicates
with the institute before departing the country
7. ensure that types of species described as a result
of the research are deposited in the National Museum or Herbarium of
the country of origin
8. inform the institute in the country of origin
where duplicate specimens are to be deposited
9. not exploit the natural resources of the host
country by removing high value biological products through collecting
wild specimens, for example plants with potential horticultural, medicinal,
cultural or other economic value, without prior permission
10. obtain a list of rare and endangered species
of the country visited, and do not collect these species without permission
11. collect no more specimens than is strictly necessary;
for live plant specimens, collect cuttings or seeds rather than uprooting
whole plants; for marine specimens, wherever possible, collect subsections
rather than whole organisms
12. leave copies of photographs/slides for the host
institute(s)
13. inform the host institute/appropriate organization
of new localities of rare/endangered species found
14. remember to send copies of research reports
to collaborator(s) and host institution(s)
15. acknowledge collaborator(s) and host institute(s)
in research reports and publications
16. collect identified reference voucher specimens
for all biological products to be exported
APPENDIX 2. CONTRACT GUIDELINES
ASOMPS VII recognizes that there is considerable
variation in the levels of technical expertise for the development of
new natural products in the region. There is also recognition that every
effort should be made to reduce dependency by developing countries on
technology held by developed countries. However in the sort-term efficient
development of new natural products may involve sharing of biological
resources and technology between developed countries and the country
of origin.
In order to avoid contracts which do not achieve
equity in partnerships between developed countries and the country of
origin, there are suggested minimum standards which should be used:
1. the amount of material collected for initial
screening should not normally exceed 100-500 grams (dry weight) unless
specific permission is obtained
2. payment should include all handling expenses
and infrastructure costs
3. where screening of extracts is carried out with
the aid of a partner organization in the developed world, a minimum
of 60% of any income arising from the supply of extract to commercial
organizations should be returned to the appropriate country organization
4. the country organization should receive a minimum
of 51 % of any royalties arising from external collaboration that results
in marketable products. Since a fair royalty would be of the order of
3-5%, the appropriate country organization should receive a minimum
royalty of 1.5-2.5%.
5. the country organization should not sign agreements
that give indefinite exclusive rights to any external party. Exclusivity
should be limited to no more than a two-year period
6. complete evaluation of results of any screening
should be reported to the supply country organization within a reasonable
specified period
7. if there is a threat of destructive harvesting,
costs of sustainable harvesting or development of alternative supplies
must be borne by the external organization
8. the contribution of research participants should
be recognized through coauthorship on publications
9. initial preparation of extracts and screening
should be done in the country of origin and assistance to develop this
expertise should be provided wherever practicable