ABS

• ABS regimes facilitate access, thereby increasing the use of biological

resources and associated traditional knowledge, while ensuring that
the benefits are shared with the traditional owners.
• Genetic resources
• All living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) carry genetic material potentially
useful to humans
• These resources can be taken from the wild, domesticated or cultivated
• They are sourced from:
– Natural environments (in situ)
– Human-made collections (ex situ)
• (e.g. botanical gardens, genebanks, seed banks and microbial culture
•collections)
•ABS
• It is used to refer to the way in which genetic resources or traditional knowledge associated with
such resources is accessed and how the benefits that result from the utilisation of such resources
and associated traditional knowledge are shared with the countries and/or indigenous and local
communities providing them. Kani tribe case
Access
• Access means obtaining, possessing and using genetic resources, their
derived products, and where applicable, intangible components for
purposes of research, bio-prospecting, conservation, industrial
application or commercial use.
BENEFIT SHARING- 2 types
•Monetary benefits may include but are not limited to:
(i) Access fees/fee per sample collected or otherwise acquired;
(ii)Up-front payments;
(iii)Milestone payments;
(iv)Payments of royalties;
(v)License fees in case of commercialisation;
(vi)Special fees to be paid to trust funds supporting conservation and sustainable use
(vii)Salaries and preferential terms where mutually agreed;
(viii)Research funding;
(ix)Joint ventures; and
(x)Joint ownership of relevant intellectual property rights.
Non-Monetary benefits
• may include, but are not limited to:
• Sharing of research and development results;
• Collaboration, cooperation and contribution in scientific research &
development programmes, particularly biotechnological research activities;
• Participation in product development;
• Admittance to ex situ facilities of genetic resources and to databases by
participating institutions;
• Transfer of genetic resources of knowledge and technology under most
favourable terms, knowledge and technology that make use of genetic resources,
including biotechnology, or that are relevant to the conservation and sustainable
utilization of biological diversity;
• Strengthening capacities for technology transfer
• Institutional capacity building;
• Human and material resources to strengthen the capacities for the
administration and enforcement of access regulations;
• Training related to genetic resources with the full participation of
country
FPIC
• Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is a specific right that
pertains to indigenous peoples and is recognised in the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
• It allows them to give or withhold consent to a project that may affect
them or their territories.
• Once they have given their consent, they can withdraw it at any stage.
Furthermore, FPIC enables them to negotiate the conditions under
which the project will be designed, implemented, monitored and
evaluated.  This is also embedded within the universal right to self-
determination.
PIC/FPIC
• Free- Consent given freely without any coercion, duress, threat.
Community on its own gives consent without any influence.
• Prior- Consent obtained in advance before commencement of any
activity.
• Informed- All the information should be provided to the community
before any consent.
• Consent- A collective decision by the community.
Parties involved
The Nagoya Protocol
• 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 is a supplementary agreement to
the Convention on Biological Diversity.
• It provides a transparent legal framework for the effective
implementation of one of the three objectives of the CBD: the fair
and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of
genetic resources.

• The Nagoya Protocol on ABS was adopted on 29 October 2010 in

Nagoya, Japan and entered into force on 12 October 2014.
Objective
• Its objective is the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from
the utilization of genetic resources, thereby contributing to the
conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
Applies to?

• The Nagoya Protocol applies to genetic resources that are covered by

the CBD, and to the benefits arising from their utilization.
• The Nagoya Protocol also covers traditional knowledge (TK)
associated with genetic resources that are covered by the CBD and
the benefits arising from its utilization.
• The Nagoya Protocol addresses traditional knowledge associated
with genetic resources with provisions on access, benefit-sharing
and compliance.
• It also addresses genetic resources where indigenous and local
communities have the established right to grant access to them.
• Contracting Parties are to take measures to ensure these
communities’ prior informed consent, and fair and equitable
benefit-sharing, keeping in mind community laws and procedures as
well as customary use and exchange
Tools and mechanisms to assist
implementation
• The Nagoya Protocol’s success will require effective implementation
at the domestic level. A range of tools and mechanisms provided by
the Nagoya Protocol will assist contracting Parties including:

• Establishing national focal points (NFPs) and competent national

authorities (CNAs) to serve as contact points for information, grant
access or cooperate on issues of compliance
• An Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House to share information,
such as domestic regulatory ABS requirements or information on
NFPs and CNAs
• Capacity-building to support key aspects of implementation. Based on a country’s
self-assessment of national needs and priorities, this can include capacity to
• Develop domestic ABS legislation to implement the Nagoya Protocol
• Negotiate MAT
• Develop in-country research capability and institutions
• Awareness-raising
• Technology Transfer
• Targeted financial support for capacity-building and development initiatives
through the Nagoya Protocol’s financial mechanism, the Global Environment
Facility (GEF)
Some Important provisions
• Article 21 of the Nagoya Protocol provides that each Party shall take measures
to raise the awareness of the importance of genetic resources and traditional
knowledge associated with genetic resources, and related access and benefit-
sharing issues. It also provides a list of such measures.
• Communication, education and public awareness are central to an effective
implementation of the Nagoya Protocol. Therefore, effective implementation
of Article 21 of the Nagoya Protocol plays a critical role for its overall success.
• In this context, the first meeting of the COP-MOP in decision NP-1/9 adopted
an Awareness-raising Strategy for the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-
sharing which aims at providing a systematic and coherent approach to assist
Parties in the implementation of Article 21.
• Article 22 of the Nagoya Protocol provides that Parties shall
cooperate in the capacity-building, capacity development and
strengthening of human resources and institutional capacities to
effectively implement the Protocol in developing country Parties and
Parties with economies in transition(LDCs/ DCs).
• Parties are required to fully take into account the needs of
involvement of indigenous and local communities and relevant
stakeholders.
• Article 30 of the Nagoya Protocol provides that the first meeting of the Conference of
the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol (COP-MOP)
shall consider and approve cooperative procedures and institutional mechanisms to
promote compliance with the provisions of the Protocol and to address cases of
non-compliance.
• These procedures and mechanisms shall include provisions to offer advice or
assistance, where appropriate. They shall be separate from, and without prejudice to,
the dispute settlement procedures and mechanisms under Article 27 of the
Convention.
• Compliance procedures are a common feature of many multilateral environmental
agreements. In general terms, they are intended to support compliance with a treaty
and facilitate or assist the Parties to the treaty to implement their obligations.
• Article 10 of the Protocol states that “Parties shall consider the need for and modalities
of a global multilateral benefit-sharing mechanism to address the fair and equitable
sharing of benefits derived from the utilization of genetic resources and traditional
knowledge associated with genetic resources that occur in transboundary situations or
for which it is not possible to grant or obtain prior informed consent.
• The benefits shared by users of genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated
with genetic resources through this mechanism shall be used to support the
conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of its components globally.”
• Article 10 addresses issues that could not be resolved during the negotiation of the
Protocol and for which further discussion was required. Through online discussions and
expert meetings, the Parties have been exploring the different aspects of Article 10,
identifying areas of common understanding and areas where further examination is
necessary.
• Articles 19 and 20 of the Protocol require each Party to encourage, as
appropriate, the development, update and use of sectoral and cross-
sectoral model contractual clauses for mutually agreed terms, and
voluntary codes of conduct, guidelines and best practices and/or
standards in relation to access and benefit-sharing. Furthermore, the
Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the
Protocol (COP-MOP) shall periodically take stock of the use of these
tools and consider the adoption of specific codes of conduct,
guidelines and best practices and/or standards.
• Different types of genetic resources (e.g.: animal, plant,
microorganisms) are used by different types of users (e.g.: botanic
gardens, academic researchers, private companies) for different
purposes (research, commercialization) in a variety of sectors (e.g.:
agriculture, pharmaceutical, horticultural, cosmetics, biotechnology).
• The following provides an overview of instruments, guidelines,
codes of conducts, policies and other tools developed for different
types of users of genetic resources to assist with the
implementation of the access and
• benefit-sharing provisions of the Convention by responding to the
particular needs of their constituents.
Micro-organisms culture collections
• Micro-organisms Sustainable Use and Access Regulation International
Code of Conduct (MOSAICC)
• With respect to microbial genetic resources, the MOSAICC was
developed by the Belgian Coordinated Collections of Micro-
organisms (BCCM) in 1997, with the support of the European
Commission.
• It is a voluntary code of conduct which covers the terms of access to
microbial genetic resources, including the terms of agreement on
benefit-sharing, access to and transfer of technology, scientific and
technical cooperation as well as technology transfer.