Abs Elements: Elements to Facilitate Domestic Implementation of Access and Benefit-Sharing for Different Subsectors of Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture with Explanatory Notes

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BACKGROUND

Access and benefit-sharing and the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

1. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and its Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Commission) have a longstanding history of dealing with issues related to genetic resources for food and agriculture (GRFA), including access to them and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from their utilization. In 1983, the FAO Conference adopted the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which provided a policy and planning framework for the Commission with respect to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA). During the following years, the Commission negotiated further resolutions that interpreted the International Undertaking, and in 1994, started revising the International Undertaking. As a result of this process, the FAO Conference in 2001 adopted the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Treaty), the first legally binding and operational international instrument on access and benefit-sharing (ABS) for genetic resources.

Convention on Biological Diversity

2. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), adopted in 1992, is the first international agreement that addresses ABS in its objectives and provisions. It recognizes the sovereign rights of states over their natural resources and affirms the authority governments have, subject to their national legislation, to determine access to genetic resources.

Nagoya Protocol

3. The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity (Nagoya Protocol) is a supplementary agreement to the CBD. It provides a legal framework for the effective implementation of the third objective of the CBD, the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources, with a view to contributing to the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of its components, the other two objectives of the CBD.

International regime

4. As recognized by the Conference of the Parties of the CBD at its tenth meeting, the International Regime of ABS is constituted by the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol, as well as complementary instruments, including the Treaty and the Bonn Guidelines on Access to Genetic Resources and Fair and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits Arising out of their Utilization.¹

Special features of genetic resources for food and agriculture

5. The special nature of GRFA, which are included in agricultural biodiversity, their distinctive features and problems needing distinctive solutions, is widely acknowledged.² The Conference of the Parties to the CBD, at its fifth meeting in 2000, considered the distinctive features of agricultural biodiversity to include the following:

a. Agricultural biodiversity is essential to satisfy basic human needs for food and livelihood security;

b. Agricultural biodiversity is managed by farmers; many components of agricultural biodiversity depend on this human influence; indigenous knowledge and culture are integral parts of the management of agricultural biodiversity;

c. There is a great interdependence between countries for the genetic resources for food and agriculture;

d. For crops and domestic animals, diversity within species is at least as important as diversity between species and has been greatly expanded through agriculture;

e. Because of the degree of human management of agricultural biodiversity, its conservation in production systems is inherently linked to sustainable use;

f. Nonetheless, much biological diversity is now conserved ex situ in gene banks or breeders’ materials;

g. The interaction between the environment, genetic resources and management practices that occurs in situ within agro-ecosystems often contributes to maintaining a dynamic portfolio of agricultural biodiversity.³

6. The Commission considered, at its Fourteenth Regular Session, the distinctive features of GRFA, as given in the Annex to this document.⁴ The list of features provides information on the characteristics of the different subsectors of GRFA.⁵ It should be noted that the Commission acknowledged the need to further refine this list of distinctive features and to focus on the utilization of GRFA.

Nagoya Protocol and genetic resources for food and agriculture

7. The Nagoya Protocol, in its preamble, explicitly recognizes the importance of genetic resources to food security, the special nature of agricultural biodiversity, its distinctive features and problems needing distinctive solutions, as well as the interdependence of all countries with regard to GRFA and the special nature and importance of these resources for achieving food security worldwide and for sustainable development of agriculture in the context of poverty alleviation and climate change. In this regard, the Nagoya Protocol also acknowledges the fundamental role of the Treaty and the Commission.

8. In its operational provisions, the Nagoya Protocol requires Parties to consider, in the development and implementation of their ABS legislation or regulatory requirements, the importance of GRFA and their special role for food security.⁶ Parties shall also create conditions to promote and encourage research which contributes to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, particularly in developing countries, including through simplified measures on access for non-commercial research purposes, taking into account the need to address a change of intent for such