China, Brazil, India and nine other of the world's most "biodiverse" countries signed an alliance in Mexico City on Monday to fight biopiracy and press for rules protecting their people's rights to genetic resources found on their land.

The declaration - also signed by representatives of Indonesia, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Kenya, Peru, Venezuela and South Africa - echoed complaints long voiced by Indians and environmentalists: that wealthy nations are "prospecting" for species in order to patent or sell them without offering concessions or benefits for local people.

"Up to now, our nations have not benefited from this great wealth because there hasn't been an equal sharing between the nations involved, nor with the rural and Indian groups that use and protect biodiversity," said Mexican Environment Secretary Victor Lichtinger.

Together, the 12 nations in the alliance - which account for 70 percent of the world's biodiversity - said they would press for more equal trade rules on patenting and registering products based on plant and animal resources, The Associated Press said.

Formed in the resort city of Cancun, Mexico, and formally known as the Group of Allied Mega-Biodiverse Nations, the alliance pledged to press their cause at this summer's UN World Summit on Sustainable Development, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August.

Corporations that make medicines from naturally occurring plant derivatives, or secure patents on genetic modifications of those species, have raised fears that the people who first showed scientists where to find those plants could lose the right to use them.

(eastday.com February 20, 2002)