Will benefits from genetic resources ever reach communities?

Subject: Environment

Section: International Convention

Context:

Over the last two years, there have been extensive discussions around the concept of access and benefit sharing linked to genetic resources.

Details:

It has been at the core of discussions under:
- The Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Global Biodiversity Framework;
- World Health Organization’s Pandemic Treaty;
- The Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction and
- The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA).
It was discussed again recently at the Ad Hoc Open Ended Working Group to Enhance the Functioning of the Multilateral System under ITPGRFA in Rome.
- The Working Group was established way back in 2013.
- It is tasked to figure out ways to make the multilateral system of sharing plant genetic resources for food and agriculture work.
- The issues involves are:
  - Standard Material Transfer Agreement;
  - Expansion of the list of crops in Annex I (at present, this has with 35 crop genera and 29 forage species); and
  - Implementation measures that include ways of sharing benefits from digital sequence information.
The issue is of utmost importance as plant genetic resources for food and agriculture could provide a way to increase and diversify food production and also help to adapt to climate change in the future.

About ITPGRFA:

It is a legally binding comprehensive agreement adopted in November, 2001 at Rome during the 31st session of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which entered into force on June 29, 2004 and currently has 149 Contracting Parties, including India.
The treaty provides solutions to achieve food and nutritional security as well as climate resilient agriculture. Countries are inter-dependent for PGRFA and consequently a global order is essential to facilitate access and benefit sharing.
It formally acknowledges the enormous contribution of indigenous people and small-holder farmers as traditional custodians of the world’s food crops.
The treaty was aimed at:
- recognizing the significant contribution of farmers to the diversity of crops that feed the world;
- establishing a global system to provide farmers, plant breeders and scientists with access to plant genetic materials; and
- ensuring that recipients share benefits they derive from the use of these genetic materials with the countries where they have originated.

Nagoya protocol:

The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation (ABS) to the Convention on Biological Diversity is a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
It provides a transparent legal framework for the effective implementation of one of the three objectives of the CBD: the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources.
The Nagoya Protocol on ABS was adopted on 29 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan and entered into force on 12 October 2014, 90 days after the deposit of the fiftieth instrument of ratification.
Its objective is the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources, thereby contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

What is ABS?

Access and benefit sharing refers to the way in which genetic resources may be accessed, and how users and providers reach an agreement on the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits that might result from their use.
Article 15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) sets out rules, which govern access and benefit sharing. Under these rules, the governments of countries have two key responsibilities:

To put in place systems that facilitate access to genetic resources for environmentally sound purposes
To ensure that the benefits resulting from their use are shared fairly and equitably between users and providers

Why are access and benefit sharing important?

Access to genetic resources can lead to benefits for both users and providers.
Access and benefit sharing ensures that the way in which genetic resources are accessed and used
- maximises the benefits for users, providers, and the ecology
- help communities where they are found.
To deliver a range of benefits; from basic scientific research, such as taxonomy, to developing commercial products which contribute to human well beings, such as pharmaceuticals.