Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
A number of CBD articles in addition to those described above support the con-
vention's access and benefit-sharing provisions. Article 17 encourages the
exchange of information from all publicly available sources, with an emphasis on
the needs of developing countries. Such exchange may include information from
technical, scientific and socio-economic research, training and surveying pro-
grammes, as well as the exchange of information on traditional knowledge. Article
18 further elaborates on possibilities for cooperation. It emphasizes the need for
joint research programmes and joint ventures for the development of technologies.
Article 19 focuses on biotechnology and requires contracting parties to adopt leg-
islation to facilitate effective participation in biotechnological research activities
by the providers of resources, in particular if those are based in developing coun-
tries. These articles include the proviso that access to and transfer of technology
to the providers of genetic resources must be granted on mutually agreed terms.
Finally, provisions concerning financial resources and financial mechanisms are
dealt with in articles 20 and 21, which aim to ensure that developed countries sup-
ply part of the financial resources necessary for developing countries to fulfil their
CBD-related obligations.
As the above discussion suggests, since 1993, when the CBD entered into
force, its access and benefit-sharing provisions have gone largely unimplemented,
cases of alleged 'biopiracy' of genetic resources (and associated traditional knowl-
edge) have grown in number and the need for legal certainty and transparency has
become more evident.
3.2.5 Nagoya Protocol
The most promising development on benefit sharing as governed through the CBD
occurred in 2010 with the adoption of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic
Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their
Utilization. The protocol was adopted on 29 October 2010 at the tenth meeting of
the Conference of the Parties to the CBD (CBD 2010 ). 7 Adoption was achieved
through a consensus decision among 193 countries, following some six years of
intense, complex and fractious talks - which frequently pitted developed countries
against developing countries, and providers of genetic resources against users of
those resources.
The objective of the new treaty, reflecting the principal goals of the CBD itself,
is the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of
genetic resources, thereby contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of
biodiversity.
At the core of the Nagoya Protocol is a set of interrelated provisions on access,
benefit sharing and compliance (the so-called ABCs of access and benefit sharing).
7 For the text of the decision adopting the protocol, see http://www.cbd.int/decision/
cop/?id = 12267 .
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