ABSTRACT
The development and use of new or improved products obtained through modern biotechnology was the subject of widespread discussion and debate long before the negotiations for the biosafety protocol and, indeed, the Convention on Biological Diversity itself. A number of countries would argue that both process and product need to be considered, as is specified in the Cartagena Protocol. Most inventors had been satisfied with product-type protection. Under the existing patent systems of developed countries, biotechnology industries were allowed to protect not only the product but also the process and thus limit the flow of technical information. The strict regulations subsequently adopted in some industrialized countries on the release of genetically modified organisms or their products led to the fear that some biotechnology companies might move their operations to developing countries without government knowledge or approval and in the absence of regulation, technical information and public accountability.
