Table 6.
SWOT analysis of access and benefit sharing—Case study Perú.
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| • The Peruvian Amazon holds great biodiversity, and over 1000 medicinal and food plants with commercial potential have been recorded. (B) | • There is generally poor information about the legal framework for access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, and indigenous and local communities have no control over an illegal access by national or foreign users. (K) |
| • As a signatory to the NP with a few signed contracts, Peru is ahead of other signatory countries. So far, the application of the NP has generated both monetary benefits and non-monetary benefits, the latter considered greater than the former. (R) | • The ambiguity of Peruvian regulations generates concerns for many stakeholders. (R) |
| • Peru's CNBio is recognized internationally for its achievements in fighting illegal extraction of biodiversity. (R) | • Peru is struggling to update its procedures and regulations in order to provide a timely response to researchers and other interested parties that request formal access to genetic resources. (R) |
| • The National Council of Science, Technology and Technological Innovation (CONCYTEC), the General Directorate of Environmental Health (DIGESA), and the Directorate General of Medicines, Supplies and Drugs (DIGEMID) are all competent authorities potentially able to verify and monitor the stages of research, development, and commercialization following an ABS agreement. NGOs and international cooperation agencies are well established to complement this effort, helping to balance the power relations between North and South in the field of intellectual property and distribution of benefits. (R) | • The mandatory monetary benefits (5% to provider organization and 10% of gross sales to the national Fund for the Development of Indigenous Peoples) are considered too high from a commercial perspective. (R) |
| • There is a relatively weak local industry interested in the use of biodiversity. (I) | |
| Opportunities | Threats |
| • Peru could participate much more actively in the research and development processes relating to patenting of plants and biological materials in collaboration with foreign partners from more developed countries. (A/I) | • Gaps between the regular access that passes through the ABS system and ones outside of it pose major risks for R&D. (R) |
| • Existing examples of products under development offer the chance to demonstrate how collaborative projects can be developed. (I) | • Peru's neighbors such as Colombia and Brazil have not signed up to the NP and international companies, and researchers can access there the very same genetic resources with the associated traditional knowledge avoiding the complexity of the Peruvian procedure. (R/G) |
| • Inflexible attitude of regulators can crush well-intended development initiatives (like Biotrade). (R) |