§ Joan RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of whether the EU Patent Directorate COM (95) 661 infringes the Convention on Biological Diversity. [74492]
832W
§ Mr. Battle[holding answer 3 March 1999]: The adopted text of Directive 98/44/EC on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions (EU Patent Directive) explicitly states that it is without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States with regard to international agreements, including the convention on Biological Diversity. Moreover, the Directive notes that as the Community is party to the Convention, Member States must have regard to those aspects of the convention which concern patent rights when implementing the terms of the Directive. More generally, the relationship between patent rights and the Convention will be one of the agenda items for discussion at international level Convention meetings later this year. The United Kingdom Government have, and will continue to play, an active role in these discussions.