FOCUS-EU agrees controversial biotech patent rules
RTw 27.11.97 22:33
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(Adds reaction from industry and environmental groups)
By Suzanne Perry
BRUSSELS, Nov 27 (Reuters) - The European Union moved a step
closer to resolving an emotional debate over genetic engineering
on Thursday as ministers agreed rules on patents for
biotechnology inventions.
The debate, raging for almost 10 years, has pitted rhetoric about
"Frankenstein monsters" from critics of gene technology
against dire warnings from Europe's biotech industry that
legislation was needed to prevent its demise.
"This is a quantum leap," Lorenz Schomerus, state
secretary in Germany's economics ministry, said after the text
was endorsed by EU internal market ministers. "It averts the
danger that research institutions will leave Europe."
The new rules, which must be approved by the European Parliament,
allow patents for inventions such as tomatoes that have been
genetically altered to resist decay or animals that have been
engineered for medical research purposes.
But, after much wrangling with critics who raised ethical
concerns about the "commercialisation of life,"
including Eurodeputies, the ministers inserted several
safeguards.
For example, patents are not allowed for procedures to clone
human beings, commercial use of human embryos, genetic
engineering that causes animal suffering without
"substantial medical benefit" or therapies that would
transmit genetic changes to a person's descendants.
They are also barred when scientists simply discover a body part
such as a gene sequence. But, in one of the most controversial
provisions, patents are allowed for body parts when researchers
find a way to reproduce them outside the body.
The Netherlands voted against the legislation because of concerns
in its parliament about patents for plants and animals, while
Belgium and Italy abstained.
EU officials said they expected smooth sailing in the European
Parliament since the ministers took on board the bulk of the
assembly's proposed amendments.
The parliament, which takes a keen interest in gene technology
issues, vetoed an earlier version of the legislation in 1995
because of ethical concerns, delaying adoption for several years.
Doris Ponzoni, head of regulatory affairs at biotech industry
group EuropaBio, said the group broadly welcomed the new text.
"We think it is a good compromise," she told Reuters.
The industry argues that strong patent protection is needed to
protect its investments in research and development.
But environmental and other groups lashed out at it, saying it
will allow corporations to establish monopoly rights over plants,
animals and body parts and exploit genetic material in developing
countries.
Greenpeace called it a "new form of genetic
imperialism," while the Liaison Committee of Development
Non-Governmental Organisations to the European Union warned about
the "commodification of the very elements of life."
REUTERS