The “Goa Conclusions”: BIMSTEC Agrees a Common Line on Traditional Medicine, Genetic Resources and the Defence Against Biopiracy

The Third BIMSTEC Conference on Traditional Medicine Knowledge, Genetic Resources and Intellectual Property Rights concluded in Goa on 17 September 2026 after two days, hosted by the Ministry of Ayush at the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), Goa, and attended by all seven BIMSTEC Member States. The meeting adopted an outcome styled the “Goa Conclusions”, under which members agreed to support one another across intellectual property, genetic resources and traditional medicine knowledge, and the BIMSTEC Nodal Group identified four areas of cooperation — institutional and policy cooperation, standards and trade, documentation and capacity building, and implementation mechanisms. The inaugural session was chaired by Smt. Monalisa Dash, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Ayush, with the inaugural address by Prof. Vaidya P. K. Prajapati, Director of AIIA.