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The Programme
The
programme is a partnership between the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization
(ACTO-OTCA), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ). The purpose of this
regional programme is to foster sustainable development in the Amazon region
(i.e. Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Ecuador, Peru, Surinam, and Venezuela)
through trade and investment in biodiversity-based products and services.
The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization is a cooperation and political mechanism involving the eight Amazon countries (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname, Peru and Venezuela), which is based on the 1978 Amazon Cooperation Treaty. It aims to create harmonization of regional policies with the objective of conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. In 2003, the ACTO Secretariat conducted a consultative process for setting up a strategic work plan to guide the organization's future activities. This process resulted in a plan built on the basis of four strategic axes and six programmatic areas. The strategic plan was formally approved by the Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs held on 14 September 2004. Biological Diversity, Biotechnology and Biorade is one of the programmatic areas and the UNCTAD BioTrade Initiative was identified as a natural partner. In that same year, ACTO and UNCTAD BioTrade began discussions on a partnership to promote sustainable use of biodiversity in the Amazon region.
At UNCTAD's Eleventh Session, held in São Paulo in June 2004, UNCTAD and ACTO signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the aim of assisting the Amazon countries in promoting trade and investment in biodiversity-based products and services through a regional programme.
The regional BioTrade will be carried out in a formulation and implementation phase. The programme's formulation phase started in September 2005 with the financial assistance of the United Nations Foundation (UNF) and the technical support of GTZ.
Objectives
A regional BioTrade Amazon programme will tackle difficulties in promoting biotrade at regional level, which cannot be properly dealt with through isolated initiatives. A regional programme is required to a) implement activities that cannot be properly carried out at the national level and are b) implemented in a more efficient and cost-effective way at regional level. It shall complement the activities of National BioTrade Programmes, national environmental authorities and other institutions promoting biotrade in the Amazon region. Potential areas of work have already been identified in informal discussions, which include facilitating joint positions at international negotiation forums, such as on intellectual property rights, access to genetic resources and benefit sharing, creating trans-boundary control mechanisms to prevent illegal trade and an Amazon brand.
Activity Progress
At present, the eight Amazon countries are concluding national assessment studies on the state of trade in biodiversity-based products and services in their respective Amazon regions. Based on those findings, the studies provide recommendations on issues that should be addressed at the regional level through a regional BioTrade programme.
The assessment studies have been validated in each Amazon country through technical meetings with major stakeholders. Based on the results of these studies, a regional proposal will be formulated to detail the programme's specific objectives, activities, as well as the implementation strategy and coordination arrangement. The regional proposal will be discussed at a regional workshop, which should take place by mid-August. It will be formally approved in a meeting with the programme's partners, Ministers of Environment and of Foreign Affairs, by mid-September 2006.