Research On Benefit-sharing In International Protection Of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Through thousands of years of development,traditional Chinese medicine has played a significant role in the lives of Chinese people.With the growing global demand for health care,traditional Chinese medicine knowledge and related medicinal plant and animal genetic resources have received widely attention throughout the world.The competition in the traditional medicine industry which represented by traditional Chinese medicine will inevitably intensify globally.Traditional Chinese medicine,as a unique Chinese traditional resource,is a precious resource that developed country wants because of its own systematic theory and the usefulness and the guide of modern drug research.The practice of international protection of traditional Chinese medicine includes the process and results of relevant international conventions and agreements which promoted by international organizations.Benefit-sharing is an important rule for the protection of traditional Chinese medicine resources and traditional knowledge.Benefit-sharing of genetic resources means that benefits produced by the using of genetic resources should be shared fairly with the owners(providers)of genetic resources.Convention on Biological Diversity(CBD)is the first convention on the protection of biodiversity,which clarified the mechanism of benefit-sharing of genetic resources,and protects the benefit-sharing with Bonn Guidelines and Nagoya Protocol.The practice of benefit-sharing has four points.The first is the acquisition of genetic resources,which is reflected in the use of genetic resources for technological innovation and product research;the second is the acquisition and transfer of related technologies including biotechnology;the third is the balance between the intellectual property rights holders and the public interest after the industrialization of products obtained through research and development of genetic resources.The fourth is the balance between developing countries and developed countries,the benefits derived from the use of genetic resources should be shared fairly.There are several problems in the benefit-sharing practice of the international protection of traditional Chinese medicine,including obtaining intellectual property rights by improper ways leading to imbalances in benefit-sharing,bio-piracy and the failure to protect the rights in the process of benefit sharing.The reasons are as follows: firstly,the current inadequate protection mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine is reflected in the lack of special protection for traditional Chinese medicine and the implementation of the existing protection mechanism needs to be improved;the second is that the countries who use the genetic resources ignore the balance of interests and pursue the highest returns;the third is that the countries who have genetic resources lack relevant legislation that links with benefit-sharing,which makes it difficult to maintain resource interests when the existing international protection mechanisms need to be better implemented.Aiming at the problem of the imbalance of benefit-sharing in the international protection of Chinese medicine,we should make further efforts to achieve relative equity and justice,strengthen the coordination of existing protection mechanisms,and promote the establishment of domestic laws related to benefit-sharing mechanism and improve the disclosure system of the sources of genetic resources in order to improve the implementation of benefit-sharing in the international protection of traditional Chinese medicine.Through the analysis of the feasible ways to improve the international protection of traditional Chinese medicine and the benefit-sharing system,the feasible paths for China to achieve benefit-sharing in the international protection of Chinese medicine are as follows: Strengthen the legislation on the protection and benefit-sharing of traditional Chinese Medicine should not only stipulate the principle of the access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing systems,but also formulate specific implementation and management.Strengthen the management of genetic resources and traditional knowledge related to traditional Chinese medicine,especially the management of foreign cooperation projects of genetic resources.When it comes to foreign trade or cross-border investment,due consideration should be given to the prenegotiation stage.Improve the source disclosure system for genetic resources,bring traditional Chinese medicine genetic resources and related traditional knowledge into the protection scope of source disclosure system and clarify the consequences of violating the source disclosure system.