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The regulation of access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits derived from their use has become an important issue worldwide.

Bioversity International conducts research concerning options for access and benefit-sharing (ABS) regulations that respond to the special nature of genetic resources for food and agriculture (GRFA).

International level activities

Since 2004, Bioversity International has made technical contributions to the  negotiations of the international regime on access and benefit-sharing to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The Nagoya Protocol was finally adopted by the Conference of the Parties at it's Tenth Meeting (COP10), Nagoya, Japan, on 29 October 2010. Read more.

Working on behalf of the CGIAR, through the System-wide Genetic Resources Programme (SGRP), Bioversity’s contributions have taken the form of oral interventions, a targeted series of policy briefs  and numerous panel presentations to delegates.

In this context, Bioversity has worked to raise negotiators’ awareness of the importance of:

• Building a regulatory framework that recognizes countries’ interdependence on GRFA, and the importance of creating a policy environment that supports their use in agriculture research and development to achieve food security.
• Explicitly recognizing, and not interfering with, the operation of the International Treaty’s multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing.
• Maintaining flexibility to develop specialized international arrangements for access and benefit-sharing for different types of genetic resources.

The policy briefs are available below:

•  The importance of recognizing the International Treaty in the CBD’s Protocol on access and benefit-sharing (SGRP 2010). (656 KB)
•  Leaving room in the CBD’s ABS Protocol for the future development of specialized access and benefit-sharing arrangements – the example of agricultural microbial genetic resources. (SGRP 2010). (592 KB)
•  The scope of access and benefit-sharing under the International Treaty. (SGRP 2008). (125 KB)
•  A de facto certificate of source - the Standard Material Transfer Agreement under the International Treaty. (SGRP 2007). (146 KB)
•  Developing access and benefit-sharing regimes - plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (SGRP 2006). (623 KB)
•  Farm animal genetic resources - technical consideations for policy-makers concerning conservation and use. (SGRP 2006). (178 KB)

Meanwhile the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA) has also started considering ABS issues as they relate to food and agriculture. To make the most of this opportunity, Bioversity and other CGIAR Centres have contributed to a specialized body of literature, dedicated to getting the most relevant facts in front of delegates who have responsibility for developing appropriate ABS norms. These papers concern patterns of exchange and use of different subsets of GRFA, and the impact of climate change on countries’ interdependence on GRFA:

•  The impact of climate change on countries’ interdependence on genetic resources for food and agriculture. (Fujisaka, S., Williams, D. and Halewood, M. (eds) 2009). (738 KB)
•  The use and exchange of microbial genetic resources for food and agriculture. (Dedeurwaerdere, T.; Iglesias, M,; Weiland, S.; Halewood, M. 2009). (577 KB)
•  The use and exchange of forest genetic resources for food and agriculture. (Koskela, J. et al. 2010). (648 KB)
•  Technical issues relating to agricultural microbial genetic resources, including their characteristics, utilization, preservation and distribution. (Howieson, J.G. and GRPC. 2007). (357 KB)

These same papers have also been provided, by the CBD Secretariat, to delegates negotiating the protocol. Beyond the sharing of information between these two international bodies, it is not clear yet how fruits of the ABS work of these two bodies will relate. Bioversity will continue to make contributions to both, in the hopes that they will eventually settle on a coordinated series of activities, including focused consideration of options for ABS for GRFA. The first meeting of the Committee for the Nagoya Protocol will be held in Montreal, June 2011.

A third ongoing international process to which Bioversity and the CGIAR Centres dedicate considerable attention concerns the implementation of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. See also The Treaty’s multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing and The Treaty and the CGIAR Centres. 
 

National level activities

Bioversity has been involved in a number of projects with national partners concerning access and benefit-sharing.  One example is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/Treaty Secretariat/Bioversity International Joint Programme to assist countries build their capacity to implement the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. This programme has been welcomed by the Governing Body of the Treaty.

Other ABS related Bioversity publications concerning national policy making include the following:

•  Methodology for developing policies and laws for access to genetic resources and benefit sharing. (Lewis-Lettington, R.J. et al. (eds) 2006).  (305 KB)
•  Commentary on the development of the Republic of Seychelles Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit Sharing Bill (2005). (Lewis-Lettington, R.J. and Dogley, D. (eds) 2006).  (543 KB)
•  Case studies on access and benefit-sharing. (Lewis-Lettington, R.J. and Mwanyiki, S. (eds) 2006). (1.2 MB)

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