Second, because it involves traditional knowledge, and therefore you have to deal also with the indigenous and local communities. There have been few access requests for genetic resources before the Environmental Ministry, and none of them has been approved. The best-publicized was the request by Bioandes, a company created in Colombia with North American researchers as partners. They proposed to set up a bioscreening lab in Colombia to research natural products that may be of use in the treatment of cancer. The Ministry rejected the project thee times, according to Eduardo Robayo, president of Bioandes.
Biopiracy moves a lot of money.