Stakeholder Participation in Policy on Access to Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Benefit-Sharing. Case studies and recommendations.

The third objective of the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which has now been ratified by 180 Parties, requires the benefits derived from the commercial and scientific use of genetic resources to be shared fairly and equitably with countries that provide the resources (often biologically rich countries in the South). Parties are required to introduce national policy or legislation on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing (Article 15(7)), and to encourage equitable benefit-sharing from the use of related knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities.
Since the Convention entered into force in 1993, there has been a growing awareness of the importance of transparency and participation in the development of law and policy, in order to meet the CBD’s objectives. At its first meeting in 1999, the Panel of Experts on Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) concluded that “access legislation will only be feasible and implementable if it is developed with the full participation of all those who will be affected by and administering it, such as certain industry sectors, universities, scientific research organisations, ex-situ collections and local and indigenous communities”.