More famous for its frontier reputation, wild scenery and crocodiles, the Territory nevertheless has a sophisticated research community (1). Research and commercial development in the Territory is further supported by Australia’s world-class intellectual property system and its broad experience in international commercial law.

Unlike many jurisdictions around the world struggling to match local requirements to the needs of an increasingly international business and scientific community, the Northern Territory was successful in taking a consciously business and science friendly approach to bioprospecting or biodiscovery (2). It has put that approach into law. Mutual confidence is thus anchored in the legal framework created by its Biological Resources Act. It implements the Bonn Guidelines and the Territory’s responsibilities under Australia’s intergovernmental agreement on genetic resources (3). It also aligns with the Australian Government’s own ABS legislation that applies to the World Heritage Areas of Kakadu and Uluru Kata -Juta National Parks.

Commenting on the success of the November 2007 Northern Territory Bioindustry Forum, Murray Hird, the Northern Territory CBD Competent National Authority and Director of the Industry Development Section of the Territory’s Department of Business, Economic and Regional Development said: “The Northern Territory Government facilitates public and private sector research and investment into our wonderful biodiversity. We are determined to widen this research investment and to continue to attract domestic and international interest and partners. Implementing the Bonn Guidelines has given the Northern Territory the opportunity to link conservation management and scientific research with modern biotechnology in clear, simple terms. Best of all, our strong and certain legal framework, gives Indigenous communities in the Territory the opportunity to share their traditional biodiversity knowledge on fair terms”.

Big land, small population
Australia is a megadiverse country: it has 10% of the world’s species with 80% of that biodiversity endemic to Australia, often ancient, unique or rare and as many as half of Australia’s species are yet to be identified. The Northern Territory, with its rich biodiversity across freshwater, marine, tropical wetland and desert habits potentially coupled with negotiated management rights over species found in federal (Commonwealth) waters out to the EEZ can lay claim to perhaps 30 to 40% of the nation’s species (4).

Many aspects of Australia are big. In the case of the Northern Territory, at 1,346m km2 of land and 6.000 km of coastline, the Territory is about the size of Spain, France and Italy put together. At the same time, its population is small at 213,000. Murray Hird explains the benefits of this situation: “The reality of the Territory is that for it to prosper, we have to be practical and forward looking. Our small population means smaller government. This is one of the few places in the world where the person you talk to in government is likely to be the decision maker. We understand the importance of avoiding delay and minimising cost”.

Prior to joining the Northern Territory Government, Murray Hird spent considerable time in commercial banking and corporate agribusiness. This drives a very commercial approach to biodiscovery in the Territory. “It’s about our partners and how we can add value to their business proposition. What can we offer our partners that will, in turn, allow them to add value to their customers? That’s a key element for us; understanding our partners’ business and viewpoint” he continued.

ABS with confidence
Australia approaches ABS issues with confidence. There are now Competent National Authorities for every Australian state, territory and the national government. Specific purpose ABS legislation exists for Queensland (2004), the Northern Territory (2006) and at the national level (2005). Australia’s remaining states are proceeding with their ABS legislation — with most indicating introduction in 2008. This legislative effort is part of a nationally consistent approach to implementing the Bonn Guidelines. More recently, the Australian government has released two model ABS contracts to assist parties in negotiation for access to biological resources in federally managed areas (5).

Australia has taken a methodical approach to exploring ABS issues. In 1999, it conducted a national public inquiry into what form of Australian ABS system would balance conservation with the needs of the research and business community while protecting indigenous peoples’ interests and ensuring equitable benefit-sharing for all involved. Known as the Voumard Inquiry (6), the inquiry travelled the country, held hearings and took submissions. Its 2000 Report laid down the basis for Australia’s subsequent approach to ABS and for Australia’s strong support of the Bonn Guidelines. In 2001, the development of draft national legislation followed. 2002 saw the agreement on a nationally consistent approach by all nine Australian governments and the creation of a Commonwealth State and Territory administration and policy coordinating committee in 2003.

Continuous improvement
Central to this process has been the identification and removal of obstacles to researchers undertaking biodiscovery and to its subsequent development. In 2005, the Prime Minister’s Science Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC) reviewed the state of biodiscovery in Australia (7). It supported actions already taken, recommended completing the regulatory roll-out, and emphasized the importance of identifying Australia’s species. In 2006, the Australian Government announced a strategic investment in the creation of the Atlas of Living Australia to accelerate the task of mapping and identifying Australia’s megadiversity.

In 2006, the Australian Government introduced a system of electronic verification of any grant of access to its biological resources (Prior Informed Consent or PIC) and ABS agreements (Mutually Agreed Terms or MAT). This publicly accessible electronic database supports the due diligence needs of researchers and industry by providing, at no cost, an initial means to verify the legal provenance of biological material collected from Australian Government managed land or waters.

The Northern Territory has also addressed the issue of legal provenance. It issues permit holders with a Certificate of Legal Provenance (CoP) for material collected within the Territory. This Certificate is an original document, issued by the Northern Territory Government stating that the listed bioactive substances and/or extracts from a named Territory organism have been collected in such a way as to minimise negative impacts on biodiversity; were collected with full prior informed consent of access providers and a mutually agreed benefit sharing instrument has been negotiated and is in place.

The objective here is to give formal, government endorsed legitimacy to the process of bioprospecting and subsequent biodiscovery, consistent with the Bonn Guidelines and best practice. Importantly, the CoP provides assurance to subsequent users and purchasers of the discovered bio-products that the products have been obtained in a fair, equitable and transparent manner and are therefore free from any taint of biopiracy or inappropriate procurement. This protects the interests of the providers of the resource, the researchers and subsequent development partners while also protecting the reputation of the Northern Territory.

Another innovation included in the Territory’s ABS system is recognition of the fact that many scientific discoveries are unexpected and unplanned. Accordingly, there is provision for material taken for another purpose to be approved with retrospective effect if the parties involved enter into a benefit sharing agreement with the resource provider.

An applicant applies for a permit to take biological material for the purpose of research into any genetic resources or biochemical compounds found in the biological resources. This will be granted if there is no environmental harm and a valid benefit sharing agreement has been made with the prior informed consent of the owner or manager of the resource.

Where traditional Indigenous knowledge is involved, the benefit sharing arrangements must provide: protection for, recognition of and valuing of, any Indigenous people’s knowledge to be used and details authenticating the source of the traditional knowledge (8).

To quote Murray Hird again: “We are interested in maximising the amount of scientific research. We are realistic about the likelihood of any individual collection producing a significant outcome, but the more that we learn about what we have the better we can manage it. It’s also clear from published research undertaken by staff at the US National Institutes of Health that nature is still the most significant source of truly novel therapeutic compounds. Here in the Territory, we have the scientific and biological resources to find the unexpected. We have truly only begun to scratch the surface”.

Geoff Burton is Principal Consultant, Genetic Resources Management, Jean Shannon & Associates Pty Ltd.

Anyone interested in opportunities in Australia’s Northern Territory can contact Murray Hird (+61 8 8999 7162) or write to Industry Development, the Department of Business, Economic and Regional Development, Development House, 76 The Esplanade Darwin, GPO Box 3200, NT 0801, Australia.

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(1) This community includes Charles Darwin University, the Menzies School of Health Research, research facilities of the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and the recently formed Bioscience North Australia consortium.
(2) Biodiscovery aims to identify new materials or biologically active molecules that can be developed as drugs, insecticides, herbicides or industrial enzymes.
(3) This is the Nationally Consistent Approach for Access to and Utilisation of Australia’s Native Genetic and Biochemical Resources: Natural Resources Ministerial Council: October 2002.
(4) Northern Territory Herbarium Biodiversity Conservation Group, 2007. Estimates are difficult given the amount of unexplored biodiversity in the Territory.
(5) http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/science/access/model-agreements/index.html
(6) http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/publications/inquiry
(7) http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/science_innovation/science_agencies_committees/prime_ministers_science_engineering_innovation_council/meetings/fourteenth.html
(8) Section 29 of the Biological Resources Act 2006. (9) Newman and Cragg, March 2007. Journal of Natural Products. This research demonstrates nature is the pre-eminent inspiration for drugs; with nature leading to the development of 73% of anti-cancer drugs over the last 21 years and to the development of half of all drugs over the last half-century.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Government