Thailand has joined 50 other developing countries in Asia and Africa to call on developed countries to accept a greater measure of international protection for traditional cultural expression (TCE), traditional knowledge (TK) and genetic resources (GRs).

The move is aimed at protecting the intellectual property (IP) of developing countries from unfair use by developed countries.

The demand came in the Bandung Declaration, made during a meeting last week of the Asia-Africa Forum on TCE, TK and GRs in Bandung, Indonesia. It seeks to stop the unfair use by developed nations of the IP resources of developing countries and prevent "all forms of misuse, distortion and misappropriation".

The declaration will be submitted to the final meeting of the World Trade Organisation's Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property in Geneva, Switzerland, next month. Developing nations will urge all countries to accept the protection of TCE, TK and GRs as an international commitment.

Intellectual Property Department director-general Puangrat Asavapisit said all developing nations agreed that the protection of traditional culture, local wisdom and resources should be accepted internationally.

Much of the IP of developing countries was being registered as patents in developed countries. Examples of this included Thailand's kwao krue herb (Pueria mirifica), which is patented in Japan, and a Peruvian herb called miga that is registered in the US.

"All countries should accept the protection of local resources and take concrete measures to maximise local benefits from their own resources," she said.

The campaign for IP-rights protection of TCE, TK, and GRs began in 2005. However, developed countries such as the US, Japan, South Korea and European Union countries have not accepted the proposal, because they are afraid of extra payments to developing nations. At present, developed countries enjoy the use of resources from developing countries without concern for

violating international rules, she said.

Next month's meeting in Geneva is a last-ditch effort to ensure that the TCE, TK and GRs of developing countries will be protected from use by developed nations, Puangrat said.

Meanwhile, the Intellectual Property Department is working with 37 concerned government agencies and private companies to upgrade Thailand's trade status from the current US "Priority Watch List" ranking, imposed because of the country's record on IP-rights violations.

Puangrat said the department would draw up a work plan for each product with a high rate of violations. These include cable TV, medicines, CDs and DVDs and textbooks.

The move is aimed at having Thailand's trade status upgraded in the US government's revision next year.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation