A Crítica
August 9, 2000

The modifications being made to the contract of scientific cooperation between the Brazilian Association for the Sustainable Use of the Biodiversity of the Amazon (Bioamazonia) and Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis Pharma AG are being handled in a highly secretive manner. On Friday, the commission assigned with analysing the contract presented suggestions for changing parts of the contract. The proposed modifications cannot be disclosed until the deal is finalised. According to the spokesperson for Bioamazonia, the contract is only undergoing minor alterations to keep it in line with the Provisional Measure 2,052, of June of this year, dealing with issues of access to genetic material. However, according to Representative Vanessa Grazziotin, an inside source claims that the contract is being entirely rewritten due to the need for profound changes. After the changes are completed, the contract will be presented to Novartis - if Novartis disagrees, it will be returned to the commission, otherwise the deal will go forward. Error: Unable to read footer file.