Unpacking Access: Towards the Practical Implementation of Biotechnology

4th – 5th June 2007 • Co-organised with McGill University's Centre for Intellectual Property Policy (CIPP)

McGill University’s Centre for Intellectual Property Policy (CIPP) and the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) hosted an invitation-only dialogue on “Unpacking Access: Towards the Practical Implementation of Biotechnology” in Florence, Italy, at the European University Institute on June 4 and 5, 2007. The objective of the dialogue was to generate a multistakeholder discussion on practical modalities of access to biotechnological knowledge, products and finance especially health and agriculture. Participants considered different approaches to access, while ensuring that access to biotechnology also addresses the inherent risks and concerns over safety, provision of adequate information and effective contribution to sustainable development.

This dialogue also seek to draw upon and build synergies between the activities of CIPP and ICTSD in the area of biotechnology - ICTSD’s project on Building Capacity on Trade and Biotechnology Policy-making aims to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to better formulate their biotechnology strategies and priorities as they relate to trade and sustainable development, and integrate them into national, regional and international policy-making processes. The CIPP’ project is examining how intellectual property can be rationally used by policy-makers, academics and others to improve socio-economic and political indicators and.

This dialogue focused on the challenge in making biotechnological innovation accessible to those most in need through three sessions: 1) access to agricultural and health-related products; 2) access to agricultural and health-related knowledge; 3) access to business & money for agricultural and health-related biotechnology.

Each topic was presented with short position statements by participants followed by an actively moderated discussion between the panelists and the other invitees. These discussions addressed a series of questions, including:
- to what is it that access is needed?;
- who needs such access?;
- how is access secured?;
- how are access needs priorized?; and
- how do we mitigate potential risks of access?