- India
- Apr 01
What is Nagoya Protocol?
• India has emerged as the global leader in issuing Internationally Recognised Certificates of Compliance (IRCCs) under the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS), accounting for over 56 per cent of all certificates issued worldwide.
What is the Nagoya Protocol?
• The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation to the Convention on Biological Diversity is a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
• The Nagoya Protocol was adopted on October 29, 2010 in Nagoya, Japan and entered into force on October 12, 2014.
• 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.
• Its objective is fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources, thereby contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
What is Access and Benefit Sharing?
• The Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) framework refers to the way in which genetic resources may be accessed, and how the benefits that result from their use are shared between the people or countries using the resources (users) and the people or countries that provide them (providers).
• 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:
1) To put in place systems that facilitate access to genetic resources for environmentally sound purposes.
2) To ensure that the benefits resulting from their use are shared fairly and equitably between users and providers.
• Users of genetic resources include research institutes or companies seeking access for basic scientific research or product development.
• Providers of genetic resources are governments or civil society bodies, which can include private land owners and communities within a country, who are entitled to provide access to genetic resources and share the benefits resulting from their use.
Internationally Recognised Certificate of Compliance (IRCC)
• Under the Nagoya Protocol, countries granting access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge are required to issue Internationally Recognised Certificate of Compliance (IRCCs).
• An IRCC under the Nagoya Protocol is an electronic permit or equivalent document constituting proof that genetic resources were accessed with Prior Informed Consent (PIC) and that Mutually Agreed Terms (MAT) were established.
• These certificates serve as official evidence that prior informed consent has been obtained and that mutually agreed terms have been established between users and providers of resources.
• Issued by national authorities, these electronic permits are published in the Access and Benefit-Sharing Clearing-House (ABSCH).
India issued 3,561 IRCCs
• According to the latest data on the ABS Clearing-House, India has issued 3,561 IRCCs out of a global total of 6,311, placing it far ahead of all other countries in implementing the protocol.
• Out of 142 countries registered on the ABS Clearing-House, a global platform that promotes transparency and accountability, only 34 have issued IRCCs so far.
• India is followed by France with 964 certificates, Spain (320), Argentina (257), Panama (156) and Kenya (144).
• India’s leading position reflects the effective implementation of its ABS framework under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, implemented through the National Biodiversity Authority at the central level, State Biodiversity Boards/ Union Territory Biodiversity Councils at the state level and Biodiversity Management Committees at the local level.
• Streamlined procedures and strong institutional mechanisms have enabled efficient processing of applications and ensured compliance with international obligations.
(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)