Overview
Canada's positions in the DSI negotiations are bloc-aligned with the informal coordination group of developed, non-EU states called JUSCANNZ - named for its founding members (Japan, US, Canada, Australia, Norway and New Zealand). JUSCANNZ takes the position of the most protective of DSI users. Through the negotiations, it opposed a mandatory track-and-trace system, opposed a centralized CBD sequence database, favored open-access public DSI databases, and pushed voluntary rather than mandatory contributions with a "level playing field" for users. Individually, Canada along with Japan rejected requiring databases/academic institutions to contribute to the fund.
Goals
- Preserve open, low-friction access to DSI for Canadian research and industry
- Resist expansion of the mandatory contributor base
- Avoid new binding domestic obligations in the absence of a federal ABS framework.