3 February 2011: The Institute of Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), in collaboration with the Agence Française de Développement, has organized a seminar to consider the implications of 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 (CBD), and its potential contributions to the sustainable development agenda.

The seminar, held in Paris, France, on 3 February 2011, aimed to identify future research directions, technical assistance and training needs of parties, indigenous and local communities (ILCs), and other stakeholders, as well as to discuss the Protocol’s legal, policy and practical challenges and contributions to sustainable development. Participants examined issues of access, benefit-sharing and compliance with domestic ABS legislation, and considered how the Nagoya Protocol’s provisions on temporal scope, traditional knowledge, derivatives and disclosure will affect future ABS implementation.

Stefan Jungcurt, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (Germany), presented on the history of ABS negotiations, followed by Claudio Chiarolla, IDDRI (France), with an overview of parties’ obligations under the Protocol. Veit Koester, Chair of the Compliance Committee of the Aarhus Convention, presented on the Protocol’s compliance mechanism, emphasizing the need to enhance capacity for implementation. François Meienberg, Berne Declaration (Switzerland), outlined uncertainties regarding the Protocol’s temporal scope.

Elsa Tsioumani, Democritus University of Thrace (Greece), discussed the Protocol’s provisions on the protection of traditional knowledge (TK), which oblige parties to respect the rights of ILCs to their traditional knowledge beyond the existing scope of CBD requirements in TK protection. Geoff Burton, UN University-Institute of Advanced Studies, said the Protocol’s provisions on derivatives of genetic resources and utilization of genetic resources are important for capturing the economic value embodied in the proteins that genes produce and products derived from those proteins.

Further presentations focused on: the relevance of patent law for the Protocol’s implementation; the Protocol’s relevance for agriculture, food security and sectoral approaches; non-commercial research; and negotiations on the international framework for pandemic influenza preparedness and access to vaccines under the World Health Organization (WHO).

Summarizing the discussion, Chiarolla noted the Nagoya Protocol has the potential to enhance international equity between countries and between countries and indigenous communities, as it addresses key concerns such as transparency, monitoring and tracking mechanisms, disclosure, the establishment of an international compliance committee, and requirements for the protection of ILC rights. Its implementation through domestic law could respond to the needs of the most disadvantaged groups, while entrusting civil society actors with fundamental duties and entitlements. [IDDRI Webcast and Meeting Report]