ABS and Nagoya Protocol
Contents
Overview on ABS and Nagoya Protocol
Nagoya Protocol
The Nagoya Protocol on access to genetic resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization entered into force on 12 October, 2014. It is an international agreement adopted under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The Nagoya Protocol provides a guideline for the effective implementation of the third objective of the CBD.
GGBN is following discussions on the Nagoya Protocol carefully to make sure that GGBN and its Members can fulfill any obligations which might arise from those discussions. Not all countries have ratified the Nagoya Protocol, but researchers from countries that have done so will need to be compliant with national regulations.
Many countries have developed or are in the process of developing appropriate laws and regulations to manage their sovereign rights over their genetic resources. GGBN expects that researchers working on behalf of GGBN Member institutions follow national laws wherever they work. The regulations of provider countries may carry obligations that apply after samples have left the country, such as restrictions on use, third party transfer, and tracking of any shared benefits. These obligations place demands on a GGBN Members’ internal documentation of compliance, data, and research procedures.
Open access to biodiversity research data and corresponding specimens in repositories is vital for basic, non-commercial biological science and essential to support the objectives of the CBD. GGBN Member institutions commit themselves to acquiring, using and managing genetic resources in compliance with international conventions and national laws and regulations. Accordingly, GGBN has developed Material Transfer Agreements, Code of Conduct, and Best Practice guidance documents for Members’ use. It is recommended that GGBN Members provide information on the provenance of samples when providing or transferring material (this may be required under national law, as in all EU Member States). Downstream monitoring and tracking of utilised genetic resources is a recognized challenge that must be met. In response to this challenge, GGBN has developed a permit vocabulary as part of the GGBN Data Standard that helps to standardize the tracking of permit information associated with genetic resource records across GGBN Member institutions and beyond. By 2020 it is mandatory that all GGBN Member institutions providing data to the GGBN Data Portal link associated information on permits and compliance agreements to specimens collected on or after 12 October 2014.
See the ABS Fact Sheet and FAQ GGBN Access and Benefit Sharing Fact Sheet and Answers to Frequently Asked Questions for further background and answers to frequently asked questions.
Guidance for Curators
- Use GGBN's Code of Conduct and Best Practice for Access and Benefit Sharing as a guide for meeting the requirements of the Nagoya Protocol
- Track all associated legal or rights information (e.g. Prior Informed Consent, Mutually Agreed Terms, Permits) within your database of record and review all requests for use to ensure compliance with this information
- Publish genetic collections data using the mandatory GGBN permit fields
GGBN Guidance on Access and Benefit Sharing
- Best Practice for Access and Benefit-Sharing
- Code of Conduct
- ABS Survey Results
- ABS Fact Sheet and Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
GGBN Example Material Transfer Agreements
Other Resources for Access and Benefit Sharing
- Barker K 2017, Supporting GGBN Member Compliance on ABS
- Da Silva M, 2018, ABS Brazilian Legislation
- Löhne C, 2016, Access and Benefit Sharing, Introduction to the Concept, its Implementation and Relevance to Genomic Collections and Researchers in Europe
- Davis K, Holanda P, Lyal C, Da Silva M and Fontes E, 2016, Implementation of Nagoya Protocol Dialogue between Brazil and the EU
- Barker K, Davis K, Da Silva M, Desmeth P, Droege G, Fulcher T, Seberg O, Zimkus B, 2018, GGBN Conference ABS workshop Report: Tracking Information on Use of Genetic Samples
- Rohden F, et al. 2020, Combined study on digital sequence information in public and private databases and traceability
