US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA348

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000348 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES/ETC:AVILLEGAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR, EAID, SENV, TBIO 
SUBJECT: HONDURAS: ACCESS TO GENETIC RESOURCES AND 
BENEFIT SHARING 
 
REF: 04 SECSTATE 269625 
 
1.  Summary: The Government of Honduras has no legislation 
or regulations which deal specifically with access to 
genetic resources or the sharing of benefits from such 
resources.  Procedures do exist for the import and export of 
any biological specimens and for the approval of any 
activity likely to impact the environment, and the 
collection and use of genetic resources are covered by these 
same procedures.  A new law on biosafety, which might 
establish guidelines for Mutually Agreed Terms (MAT) and 
Prior Informed Consent (PIC), is currently being drafted, 
with the laws of Argentina and Cuba being used as models. 
End summary. 
 
2.  EconOff spoke to Lessy Palacios of the Biodiversity 
Office in the Ministry of Natural Resources and the 
Environment (SERNA) and to Carlos Midence, a lawyer 
currently working as a consultant for the same office to 
draft a new law on biosafety.  The information below is 
keyed to the questions in reftel. 
 
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A.  Legislation and regulation of research and collection of 
biological resources 
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3.  Honduras does have an office and an established 
procedure for the granting of permits for research or 
collection of biological resources.  It is the Department of 
Protected Areas and Wildlife (DAPVS) within the State 
Forestry Administration - Honduran Corporation for Forestry 
Development (AFE-COHDEFOR).  Anyone wishing to receive a 
permit to collect or conduct research on a biological 
specimen must apply to this office, specifying the items to 
be collected, the methodology of the proposed research, and 
who will be conducting and sponsoring the research.  This 
procedure is handled at the national level, and the permits 
can only be processed and obtained in Tegucigalpa. 
 
4.  No negotiation of Mutually Agreed Terms (MAT) is 
included in the application process.  In fact, the entire 
procedure of granting these research permits actually has no 
official basis under any Honduran law or regulation - so 
while researchers are encouraged to apply for the permits, 
they are not legally required to do so.  In the words of 
Midence of SERNA, the research permit exists "just to make 
the researcher feel better." 
 
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B. Movement of biological specimens 
----------------------------------- 
 
5.  Procedures for import and export of non-CITES biological 
specimens are well established; however, they apply broadly 
to all movement of flora and fauna and have not been revised 
in any way to reflect Honduras' ratification of the 
Convention on Biological Diversity or signing of the 
Biosafety Protocol. 
 
6.  Export permits for non-CITES specimens of flora or fauna 
are granted by the Department of Protected Areas and 
Wildlife (DAPVS) in AFE-COHDEFOR.  Export permits for 
aquatic specimens are granted by the Fisheries Department 
(DIGEPESCA) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock 
(SAG), which is in charge of managing sea resources.  In 
addition, a phyto-sanitary permit (for plants) or zoo- 
sanitary permit (for animals) is required for either the 
import or export of flora or fauna.  These are granted by 
the National Plant and Animal Health Service (SENASA), which 
is part of SAG. 
 
7.  For commercial projects that may have an environmental 
impact, an environment impact study must be conducted by the 
Evaluation and Environment Control Office (DECA) of SERNA, 
and an environmental license must then be granted by SERNA. 
However, Honduran law is unclear as to when exactly these 
studies and permits are required.  SERNA officials told 
EconOff that such permits are required for a "large" project 
but are not required if "a few" specimens are being taken 
for research. 
 
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C. Laws and procedures for MAT 
------------------------------ 
 
8.  There are currently no Honduran laws or regulations 
establishing guidelines for negotiating mutually agreed 
terms for access to genetic resources. 
 
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D. Status of MAT and PIC 
------------------------ 
9.  The Biodiversity office within SERNA is the policy unit 
responsible for formulating guidelines for MAT and PIC. 
This office is currently preparing a draft of a new law on 
biosafety.  According to Carlos Midence, who is drafting the 
law, the draft will include articles which establish 
guidelines for MAT and PIC.  However, Midence acknowledges 
that such guidelines are somewhat out of place in a law on 
biosafety, and for this reason he surmises that the 
guidelines may well not be included in the final version of 
the law. 
 
10.  Given the absence of any legal framework on the issue, 
both Palacios and Midence of SERNA stressed that researchers 
should still strive to negotiate MAT and provide PIC when 
seeking access to genetic resources in Honduras, not because 
it is required by law, but "because it is the right thing to 
do." 
 
11.  The GOH has no general information that it provides to 
foreign researchers seeking to obtain permits for research, 
collection, export or import of biological specimens, apart 
from the information that is available on the various 
government agencies' websites: 
 
Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock:      www.sag.gob.hn 
Ministry of Natural Resources and 
  the Environment:                          www.serna.gob.hn 
Honduran Corporation for Forestry 
  Development:                              www.cohdefor.hn 
 
Pierce