Motivated by decisions of the African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Decision EX.CL/Dec. 26 (III) of the AU Summit calling for an African common position on biotechnology and genetic engineering, and their applications in agriculture, health, mining and other sectors;

Recalling the second meeting of the NEPAD Science and Technology Steering Committee during which the Secretariat of NEPAD and the AU Commission agreed to establish a high-level panel of experts to prepare a comprehensive African strategy and common position on biotechnology, including applications in agriculture, health, environment, mining and manufacturing;

Guided by the deliberations and outcomes of the Regional Policy Dialogue on Biotechnology, Agriculture, and Food Security in Southern Africa convened by the Food Agriculture and Natural Resource Network (FANRPAN) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Johannesburg, South Africa, April 25-27, 2003;

Noting that the role of modern biotechnology in the economic transformation and sustainable development of Africa is the subject of a polarized debate between extreme supporters and extreme opponents and thus increasing controversy;

Convinced that there is an urgent need for greater clarity in concepts, facts, and options to act toward coherent institutions and policies governing biotechnology in Africa, and specifically that there is a pressing need to raise awareness, promote dialogue, and build consensus mechanisms among national and regional stakeholders spanning public bodies (including parliamentary and judicial organs), the private sector, and civil society;

Emphasizing the importance of adopting open multistakeholder approaches to raising awareness and building consensus on contentious issues in research and development;

Proposing that a central challenge facing African policy makers is to identify policies and institutional arrangements that could maximize benefits from modern biotechnology options while minimizing their risks;

WE HEREBY:

1. Endorse the NEPAD/IFPRI African Policy Dialogues on Biotechnology (APDB) as an effective platform for building consensus and raising awareness on the role of modern biotechnology and genetic engineering in Africa's social and economic development;

2. Support the plan to convene an Africa-wide session of the APDB in early 2005, with a view to providing input into the deliberations of NEPAD's high-level panel of experts on biotechnology, and thus into the recommendations for African Ministers and Heads of State that will emerge from this panel;

3. Recommend that an enlarged Steering Committee of the APDB continue to provide leadership to this process;

4. Reach consensus on the following points: a. The Precautionary Principle is a useful concept in the African context, however further work is required to build understanding about national and regional criteria that should guide its interpretation and application by African countries, and about specific policy objectives that it needs to promote; b. There is need to build clear institutional arrangements to manage and safeguard intellectual property rights (IPR) at international, regional, and national levels, with the issue of benefits sharing from innovations emerging from both scientific and traditional knowledge systems especially crucial; c. There is need to distinguish between utilization of IPR to promote innovation and technology transfer versus application of IPR for protection of the rights of technology developers. While the "utilization" perspective is most appropriate for Africa, the "protection" perspective has been dominant thus far. There is need to promote IPR both for both utilization and protection; d. There is need for significant investment to strengthen African countries' physical, human, and institutional capacities in biotechnology-related fields, including policy design and implementation. NEPAD is already providing leadership in this area and should continue to do so, building on on-going sub-regional and national efforts; e. Two biotechnology-related issues are likely to be especially contentious in Africa in the medium term: (1) the socioeconomic impacts of biotechnology; and (2) liability and redress. The planned continental or Africa-wide session of the APDB should focus on and address these two issues.

WE THEREFORE:

ADOPT this Statement of Commitments as the principal outcome of our policy dialogue session;

ENCOURAGE the SADC Secretariat, the SADC Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and Biosafety, and FANRPAN to work together to further raise awareness and build consensus on the role of biotechnology in development in southern Africa;

RECOMMEND that the NEPAD Science and Technology Forum submit this Statement of Commitments to the NEPAD Secretariat for endorsement and support in the lead up to the 2005 Summit of the African Union; and

EXPRESS our profound gratitude to NEPAD, FANRPAN, and IFPRI for the excellent material and logistical support we received at the session.

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