ABSTRACT
Biopiracy inevitably has to be dealt with through actions at various governmental scales. The majority of biopiracy concerns relate to international transfers of biological resources and traditional knowledge, which often leads to their intellectual property protection in foreign jurisdictions. Consequently, it is important to deal with issues of biopiracy at the global scale. Attempts to transparently regulate these international transfers have been made in ongoing discussions surrounding international treaties and conventions like the ITPGRFA and CBD. Additionally, discussions in the TRIPS Council of the WTO and in WIPO are addressing issues relating to intellectual property rights, genetic resources and traditional knowledge. These international mechanisms and tools are likely to play an important role in the prevention of biopiracy in coming years, but may also serve broader roles for the improvement of patent quality, for the promotion of innovations derived from traditional knowledge and potentially for the improved regulation of bioprospecting activities.
