Genetic resources and a fair share of what comes from them: the Nagoya Protocol

Background

The Nagoya Protocol is an agreement under the Convention on Biological Diversity on who may reach a country's genetic resources and how the gains from using them are shared. Its long formal title covers access to genetic resources together with the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits their use brings, and the stated aim is that those benefits reach people fairly. The Protocol came into force on 12 October 2014, 90 days after the fiftieth instrument of ratification was deposited, and it now carries 143 ratifications or accessions. Article 14 of the Protocol created the Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House, a platform for exchanging information about access and benefit-sharing, which sits inside the clearing-house that Article 18, paragraph 3 of the Convention set up. The Clearing-House is meant to add legal certainty and transparency, to let providers and users of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge find each other, and to carry the internationally recognized certificate of compliance. Parties meet as the Conference of the Parties acting also as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol, a mouthful shortened to COP-MOP. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is the other protocol under the same Convention.