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| ExpoSustentat  UNCTAD's BioTrade Initiative and its network of Latin American partners have decided to team up with Expo Sustentat for this year's event. BioTrade seeks to promote trade and investment in biological resources in support of sustainable development, within the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) – that is, the objectives of conservation, sustainable use and benefit-sharing. The BioTrade Initiative, Expo Sustentat and UEBT look forward to the new opportunities this event will bring and welcome businesses interested in sustainability to visit the Sala Andes-Amazonia exhibition and participate at the BioTrade forum on 17 October.Through the establishment of partnerships with national, regional and international programmes, its activities aim to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to enhance the production of value-added products and services derived from biodiversity for both domestic and international markets. Its collaboration with Expo Sustentat is evidence of its commitment to raise awareness of BioTrade goods in such markets and provide opportunities to businesses working in this area. Its activities in Latin America currently expand to programmes in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru. Over the last years many companies have begun to work towards sustainable production and harvesting methods for a large variety of natural products from the Andean and Amazonian regions. Many of these will be presented during Expo Sustentat at the Sala Andes-Amazonia exhibition. This variety includes natural ingredients, such as energizers, colourants and natural remedies, finished food products, such as drinks and supplements, as well as non-food products, such as caiman leather and ecotourism. The market for "naturals" is set to grow significantly over the next few years. BioTrade and Expo Sustentat 2007 aim to anticipate this trend by bringing sustainable products to this international fair and creating an opportunity for people to have their say at the BioTrade forum. The BioTrade Initiative's network of Latin American partners is made up of small and medium-sized enterprises, small farmer organizations, cooperatives, NGOs and governmental organizations. The Initiative's experience of working with the public and private sectors led to the development of a set of BioTrade Principles and Criteria, with the purpose of providing guidance to the different actors in the supply chain wanting to work towards the conservation, and sustainable use of biodiversity. The Principles and Criteria also include guidance on how to implement benefit-sharing among those at the lowest level of the supply chain, having a direct impact on the poverty levels of local communities. In response to private sector calls for further help on implementing the CBD objectives into their business models, the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT) was created in May 2007. A membership-based association, UEBT aims at contributing to sustainable business development by bringing together organizations from different sectors of society worldwide that are working in the field of native biodiversity and want to comply with the BioTrade Principles and Criteria. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Exhibition News :: home page |