中国动植物遗传资源利用现状和制度完善

Current Situation and Institutional Improvement of the Plant and Animal Genetic Resources Utilization in China

我国的动植物遗传资源丰富而富有价值。近年来,我国遗传资源流失和国外恶意剽窃等问题频频发生,对资源的过度开发和不合理利用问题也十分突出。主要原因有两方面,客观上我国经济快速发展和庞大的人口基数导致对资源的需求量急剧上升;主观上认为资源极大丰富,是可再生资源的传统观点并未得到根本改变,无论是管理者、经营者还是消费者都缺乏对资源稀缺性和珍贵性的正确认识,导致对资源的不合理使用。虽然我国已初步制订了相应的政策法规,并利用数据库等科技手段加强对遗传资源的保护和利用工作,但是在动植物遗传资源利用及保护方面的法规、政策和制度上仍存在诸多不足。法律层面上,存在立法体系不完整,缺乏操作性等问题;制度层面上,存在管理机构不明,指导体制缺位等缺陷。相关部门应在立法、制度建设、知识产权研究、培育市场化机制等方面入手,完善我国动植物遗传资源保护和利用制度。

China boasts a large area with complex terrains and climate. It spans from north to south the frigid zone, temperate zone and tropical zone. China has diversified ecological environment, which nurtures very rich wildlife resources. Beside fishes, China boasts about 2,619 vertebrate species, including 581 mammalian species, 1,331 bird species, 412 reptile species, and 295 amphibian species. There are several hundreds of rare and endangered wild animal species, such as the giant panda, Crested Ibis and so on. China also has more than 30,000 species of higher plants. Over 17,000 species of plants such as Dawn Redwood, Cathaya Argyrophylla, Abies beshanzuensis and Henry Emmenopterys can only be found in China. Our plant, animal genetic resources are ample and valuable. However, we are facing serious problems of genetic resources＇ lost, being pirated and being overused at the same time. There are two reasons respectively from objective and subjective angles. On one hand, the economy of the People＇s Republic of China is the third largest economy entity in the world. The Chinese economy is expected to grow at an annual rate of eight per cent during the period of the 11th Five-Year Plan （2006-2010）. One of the serious negative consequences of China＇s rapid industrial development since the 1980s has been increased pollution and degradation of natural resources. The need for animal and plant resources is growing dramatically for the past decade. Moreover, China has the largest population in the world, which enlarges the natural resources needs. On the other hand, the traditional awareness about natural resources is that we can use them unlimitedly and the resources are ample and reproducible. This thought has not been changed substantially. Many administration institutions, business dealers and consumers have not realized the scarcity and preciousness of the natural resources. The above reasons result in the lost and over-utilization of the natural resources. We have initially established laws, policies and regulations on this topic, such as Environmental Protection Law of the People＇s Republic of China, Seed law, Regulations of the Peoples Republic of China on the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, and so on. Moreover, the patent law has been revised to fight against biopirate and to protect natural resources. And technological measures, such as databases, are utilized to protect genetic resources as well. However,it is still urgent to rectify the defects and insufficiencies in the present system. Such as legislation imperfection, operability deficiency, management absence, etc. The authorities concerned should strengthen legislation, management, IPRs study and commercialization mechanism.