Dr. Anne Marie Fine is a licensed and practicing naturopathic physician, award-winning researcher, author, speaker, and a highly sought after national and international lecturer. While she practices as a primary care physician, her focus has been on environmental medicine, in which she has recently completed post doctoral training. Dr. Fine founded the Fine Center for Natural Medicine, L.L.C., a comprehensive healthcare clinic located in Scottsdale, AZ. Her healthcare vision includes preventive and natural medicine to meet the emerging medical challenges of our day, primarily chronic degenerative diseases brought on by faulty diet, exposure to environmental toxins, and lifestyle choices

She is also the founder of Fine Natural Products, LLC, a physician owned company dedicated to providing organic, botanical and vitamin-based skin care solutions that feed and nourish the skin. Dr. Fine identified a critical need in the natural skin care arena, for a natural, ultra-pure and powerfully effective skin care line that not only replenishes and restores dehydrated and lackluster skin caused by environmental stressors, but also detoxifies the skin resulting in a truly luminous glow.

A recognized leader in the field of Integrative Medicine, Dr. Fine is a member of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, American Academy of Anti-Aging Physicians, and board eligible for the Naturopathic Association of Environmental Medicine. Dr. Fine has been selected by Today's Arizona Woman as one of the top five naturopathic physicians in Arizona.

Dr. Anne Marie Fine NMD, CPA, graduated with high academic honors from the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in Tempe, Arizona. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame in Accounting. She is also a Licensed CPA in Arizona and California. Her early career was in corporate finance in Southern California.

ABSTRACT:

Companies in the personal care products supply chain identify, use, and/or market ingredients found in countries all around the world. New rules and realities are emerging for how companies are permitted to access, use, and pay for these ingredients. These new rules and realities can apply to companies all along the supply chain - not just the initial acquirer of ingredients.

At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro 193 countries signed onto the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which enjoys near-universal participation. This UN treaty states that access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge found within a country's borders is to be granted under mutually agreed terms and subject to prior informed consent of the providing country. In addition, the CBD calls for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. An additional treaty to the CBD -- the Nagoya Protocol -- was adopted in October 2010 and outlines a framework of rules with implications for users that conduct R&D on plant/animal genetic resources (DNA/RNA), extracts, and compounds (e.g., oils, sugars/starches, vitamins). Governments have also begun to implement national laws and regulations, impose penalties for failure to comply, up to and including imprisonment.

Join us for a discussion with Patricia Wu, who represented the Personal Care Products Council in these negotiations, to understand how companies can contend with these new global ingredient sourcing and usage realities -- and protect themselves from the legal, financial, and reputation risks associated with being singled out for alleged "biopiracy."

Patricia Wu is a Director at C&M International, an international policy and regulatory affairs consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. Ms. Wu advises multinationals and their trade associations in using international policy tools to support their corporate strategic priorities. She works with clients in the consumer goods, retail, life sciences, and medical technology sectors.

Ms. Wu participated in the negotiations leading to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS) to the Convention on Biological Diversity, where she represented the Personal Care Products Council (PCPC) as an official observer.

Prior to joining C&M International Ms. Wu held a number of positions in the private sector, including at The Estee Lauder Companies and J.P. Morgan Chase.

Ms. Wu holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she co-authored several published case studies focused on business strategy as it relates to government. She graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Tufts University and holds a degree from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris. She speaks Mandarin Chinese and French. Ms. Wu serves on the boards of T.N.C. Industrial Co., Ltd, a publicly traded company in Taiwan, and Women in International Trade.