The restive Nile basin which has long been identified as a flashpoint prone to conflict embarked on a new path of cooperation with the launching of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI). Anchored in a Shared Vision ‘to achieve sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilization of, and benefits from, the common Nile Basin water resources’, the NBI has provided a convenient forum for the negotiation of a Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) to set up a permanent, inclusive legal and institutional framework. Negotiation of the CFA has, however, faced a serious impasse as a result of the introduction of the concept of ‘water security’. The introduction of this non-legal, indeterminate, and potentially disruptive concept is, indeed, a regrettable detour to a virtual blind-alley. The justifications for this fateful decision are totally unfounded and specious. The decision rather makes sense as an unwarranted move pushing into further obscurity the already intractable Nile waters question, at best, and a logical cul-de-sac in the decade-long negotiations which have arguably fallen prey to the hegemonic compliance-producing mechanism of ‘securitization’ sneaked in under the veil of ‘water security’, at worst. Resolution of the Nile waters question should thus first be extricated from the morass of ‘water security’ and then be sought nowhere but within the framework of international water [...]
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Very similar to trade barriers, data protection has been an obstacle to free global data flow. The European legal system on cross-border data flow set up by Directive 95/46/EC prohibits transfer of personal data to third countries which do not have an adequate data protection level. With enormous international implications, such a regionally oriented system is heavily dependent on effective monitoring of cross-border data transfer. Due to a lack of proper supervision on data transfer, it encounters many challenges, which forces the European Commission to adopt the contractual model and the corporate law model. Meanwhile, compared with issues like free trade and environmental protection, not much international consensus has been reached on cross-border data protection. As a result, bilateral, regional, and multilateral collaborations between national sovereignties are to be strengthened, to facilitate transborder data flow and to safeguard individuals’ right to data [...] The Seventh Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (2004) of the Convention on Biological Diversity established a mandate for the negotiation of an international regime on Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit Sharing arising from their utilization. Negotiations have been proceeding and have entered the final phase. Seven working group meetings have been held to date and there is expectation that an instrument will emerge by the final deadline – the Tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties in Nagoya, Japan in October 2010. A key component singled out for inclusion in the international regime relates to the recognition and protection of the rights of indigenous and local communities (ILCs) over their traditional knowledge (TK) associated with genetic resources. The Ninth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (2008) established a Group of Technical and Legal Experts to assist the Working Group to deal with this issue. The Group met in India in June 2009 and has submitted a report. This article reflects on the key outcomes of this Expert Group report. In particular, it identifies the key issues that need to be considered and resolved for TK associated to genetic resources to form an integral and viable component of the proposed international [...] |
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