Nagoya Protocol, if ratified, could lead to battle over ownership of “traditional knowledge”

By Lee You-jin

　What if, some time in the not-too-distant future, you have to pay a fee to another country to make Oriental medicine or study tai chi? What if South Korea and China wage a battle over who gets the title of “originator”?

　This could happen as a result of the Nagoya Protocol. The Ministry of Health and Welfare recently held a meeting of parties to the Nagoya Protocol, which was adopted by around 70 countries in Oct. 2010. The protocol stipulates that profits from Oriental medicine are to be shared with the providing nation not only in the case of biogenetic resources, or the plants and animals born and cultivated in a region, but also traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources.

　Tension is on the rise following predictions that “traditional knowledge” could include a number of instances like Oriental medicine where it is unclear who first developed it. The situation has observers predicting a fierce battle with China to claim ownership first.

　The Nagoya Protocol was adopted in 2010 to prevent a monopoly of profits by companies in powerful countries and the indiscriminate use of biological resources after the Convention on Biological Diversity took effect in 1993. It has been signed by 92 countries to date and ratified by Gabon and Jordan.

　The protocol takes effect in 90 days if ratified by more than 50 countries. Observers are predicting this to happen shortly, with a number of countries making active efforts toward its ratification, including Australia and India along with the European Union.

　In the past, the cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and health supplement industries, which import products from overseas, were expected to suffer the brunt of the Nagoya Protocol.

　While the “Donguibogam” is an example of Korean cultural heritage registered with UNESCO, China supplemented registered its own traditional medical knowledge with texts like “Bencao Gangmu” and “Huangti Neijing,” confounding claims to its “origins.”

　Ahn Sang-u, who heads the Korea Institute of Oriental Meditation‘s team for “Donguibogam” commemorative efforts, argued that the scope of “traditional knowledge” is not made clear in the protocol.

　“The knowledge of Oriental medicine is shared throughout East Asia, but because of the major potential for this to escalate into a historical dispute, we need to prepare in advance so that we do not end up unjustly paying user’s fees to China,” Ahn said.

　Park Won-seok, a professor at Chung-Ang University law school, said, “Since the only thing included in the protocol is traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, things like qigong and acupuncture would appear to be unrelated, but we need to be careful because China and Korea share Oriental medicine secrets and techniques.”

　In particular, with China actively seeking out medicinal knowledge from minorities in regions like Tibet and Inner Mongolia to register as state-level intangible cultural heritage, some observers said efforts to secure intellectual property rights could become part of a new “Northeast Asia Project.”

　An official in the Ministry of Health and Welfare‘s Oriental medicine policy department said China is using UNESCO registration of cultural heritage as a means of securing its own interests.

　“We also need registration procedures for the Four Constitutions, Saam acupuncture, and medicines like ox bezoar, but current South Korean law does not include knowledge associated with traditional medicine in the scope of intangible cultural heritage,” the official explained.

　Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

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