Brazilian State Acts On Plant Research

A new law approved by a state in Brazil's Amazon region will requirenon-Brazilian research groups to work with Brazilian scientists; they will also need special permits.

The law, written by a Brazilian Communist party legislator and passed by Acre's assembly, will also try to guarantee royalties for native Indian communities in exchange for information on rainforest plant life. It is claimed that one non-governmental organization traded painkillers with six Indian tribes in the state for species of plants with medicinal properties, and then sold the plants to international pharmaceutical companies.

Government officials feel foreign researchers do not register genetic discoveries made in the Amazon region and other parts of Brazil to avoid paying royalties and other taxes, it was noted.