Access to genetic resources and benefit sharing has been one of the most important and active themes of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The starting point for planning in this area is CBD Article 15: Access to Genetic Resources, which reads:

1. Recognizing the sovereign rights of states over their natural resources, the authority to determine access to genetic resources rests with the national governments and is subject to national legislation.


2. Each contracting party shall endeavor to create conditions to facilitate access to genetic resources for environmentally sound uses by other Contracting parities and not to impose restrictions that run counter to the objectives of this Convention.


3. For the purpose of this Convention the genetic recourses being provided by a contracting party as referred to in this Article and Article 16 and 19, are only those that are provided by contacting parties that have acquired the genetic resources in accordance with this convention.


4. Access, where granted shall be on mutually agreed terms and subject to the provisions of this Article.


5. Access to genetic resources shall be subject to prior informed consent of the Contracting Party providing such resources, unless otherwise determined by the party.


6. Each Contracting Party shall endeavor to develop and carry out scientific research based on genetic resources provided by other Contracting Parties with the full participation of, and where possible in, such Contracting Parties.


7. Each Contacting Party shall take legislative, administrative or policy measures, as appropriate, and in accordance with Articles 16 and 19 and, where necessary, through the financial mechanism established by Articles 20 and 21 with the aim of sharing in a fair and equitable way the results of research and development and the benefits of arising from the commercial and other utilization of genetic resources with the Contracting Party providing such resources. Such Sharing shall be upon mutually agreed terms.

More recently , CoP Decision V/26 calls for Parties to nominate a national focal point, to provide inputs into the Second Expert Meeting of the Panel of Experts on Access and Benefit Sharing (deadline 31st December 2000!), and to contribute to a database on legal and policy initiatives on ABS. Now is a good time to review the existing information in this area in preapration for increased activity.

There is a huge amount of writing about Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) within the biodiversity arena and also from within the dialogues on Traditional Knowledge (TK) and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). It is hard to keep up with this literature because it has yet to be completely centralised and synthsised.

Below we try to flag the best location for the original sources of case studies or the most comprehensive synthesis studies on ABS as it relates to biodiverse resources. Much of this information is downloadable free from the URLs provided and could be used as a resource for in-country ABS discussion, meetings and workshops.

1. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Clearing House Mechanism (CHM) Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit Sharing pages

The new ABS webpage of the CHM contains a useful guide to the various SBSTTA Recommendations and CoP Decisions relating to Access and Benefit Sharing. SBSTTA and the CoP have been developing ABS as a cross-cutting theme for several years now and have compiled case studies on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing.

A total of 17 case studies and one review were posted on the old CBD Clearing House Mechanism pages for ABS. The table below contains the authors and titles of the case studies available as pdf files from the URL above.

A 35 page synthesis of the findings of these case studies is contained in document UNEP/CBD/COP/4/Inf.7, available as a pdf file from the old CBD website.

[Each of the case studies and the synthesis paper can be forwarded as e-mail attachments on request from BPSP (contact David.Duthie)

The following case studies were received by the Secretariat, listed by alphabetical order of the Country in section I for those submitted by Governments, and by alphabetical order of the authors for other cases in section II:

[The Table below is identical to that of the CBD CHM and has the same links]

I. Case studies submitted by governments
Author	Title	Format
India, Ministry of Environment and Forests	Benefit sharing model experimented by Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI), a national center of excellence on tropical plant diversity.	pdf
République du Mali, Ministre du développement rural et de l’eau	Programme test de gestion décentralisée de la pêche dans le Delta Central du Niger au Mali.	pdf
Government of Australia	A New Approach to Benefit Sharing in Bioprospecting, E A Evans-Illidge and P T Murphy Australian Institute of Marine Science	pdf
II. Case studies submitted by international and non-governmental organizations
Author	Title	Format
Aalbersberg, William G.; Korovulavula, Iso; Parks, Johne E.; Russell, Diane.	The Role of a Fijian Community in a Bioprospecting Project	pdf
Anuradha, R.V.	Sharing with the Kanis: A case study from Kerala, India.	pdf
Guerin-McManus, Marianne; Famolare, Lisa M.; Bowles, Ian A., Malone, Stanley A.J.; Mittermeier, Russel A.; and Rosenfeld, Amy B.	Bioprospecting in Practice: A Case Study of the Suriname ICBG Project and Benefits Sharing under the Convention on Biological Diversity.	pdf
Iwu, M and Sarah A. Laird.	The International Cooperative Biodiversity Group: Drug Development and Biodiversity Conservation in Africa: Case Study of A Benefit-Sharing Plan.	pdf
Laird, Sarah; Lisinge, Esterine.	-Ancistrocladus korupensis: A Species with Pharmaceutical Potential from Cameroon. -Sustainable Harvesting of Prunus africana on Mount Cameroon: Benefit-Sharing between Plantecam Company and the Village of Mapanja. -Conclusion: The Ancistrocladus korupensis and Prunus africana. Case Studies from Cameroon:Contrasting Benefit-Sharing in the Pharmaceutical and Phytomedical Industries.	pdf
Madzudzo,Elias.	Communal Tenure, Motivational Dynamics and Sustainable Wildlife Management in Zimbabwe.	pdf
Moran, Katy.	Mechanisms for benefit sharing: Nigerian Case Study for the Convention on Biological Diversity.	pdf
Rosenthal, Joshua P.	The International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups (ICBG) Program.	pdf
ten Kate, Kerry and Amanda Collis.	The Genetic Resources Recognition Fund of the University of California, Davis.	pdf
ten Kate, Kerry, Laura Touche and Amanda Collis.	Yellowstone National Park and the Diversa Corporation Inc.	pdf
ten Kate, Kerry and Adrian Wells.	The access and benefit-sharing policies of the United States National Cancer Institute: a comparative account of the discovery and development of the drugs Calanolide and Topotecan	pdf
Vogel, Joseph Henry.	Case study no. 6: Bioprospecting: The Impossibility of a Successful Case Without a Cartel.	pdf
Tânia Sampaio Pereira.	Botanic Garden's Collections and the CBD - Rio de Janeiro Botanic Garden case study	pdf
By Claudio Torres Nachon and Gaby Cantœ, Center for Environmental Law and Economic Integgration of the South, DASSUR	Towards a law on the access and use of genetic resources in Mexico.	pdf
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, Environmental Policy Studies,Working Paper #4	Access to Genetic Resources: An Evaluation of the Development and Implementation of Recent Regulation and Access Agreements	pdf

Additional documents have been made available from the 1999 Meeting of Panel of Experts on Access and Benefit Sharing held in San Jose, Costa Rica and can be downloaded as pdf files.
These are:

(i) The Draft Guidelines on Access and Benefit Sharing Regarding the Utilisation of Genetic Resources prepared by Martin A. Girsberger (Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property), Alwin R. Kopse (Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs) and François Pythoud (Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape) (12pp.) [Contact e-mails: martin.girsberger@ipi.ch; alwin.kopse@seco.admin.ch; francois.pythoud@buwal.admin.ch. These draft guidelines were presented at CBD CoP5.

(ii) Fair And Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from the Use of Genetic Resources. This was a discussion document prepared for the Third Meeting of the CoP, Buenos Aires, Argentina 4 - 15 November 1996 but contains very useful information.

(iii) Options for Access and Benefit Sharing Arrangements - A Note by the CBD Executive Secretary

2. The Global Biodiversity Forum

The Global Biodiversity Forum also has an active programme on Access and Benefit Sharing and held a workshop on "Instruments for Access and Benefit-Sharing from Genetic Resources" at GBF-15/COP5

The Workshop Summary is given below

Building on the work accomplished by the CBD Expert Panel on ABS (Costa Rica, October 1999)
and the ad hoc working group on Article 8(j) (Spain, March 2000), the workshop considered the
key conclusions of these meetings and the draft COP Decisions, and allowed key stakeholders to
share experiences of implementation of measures on ABS and Article 8(j). Representatives from
indigenous and local communities and companies involved in particular partnerships involving
access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge shared their experiences of negotiating
and implementing an ABS agreement.

The workshop split into two parallel working groups – on 8(j) and on ABS - for part of the workshop. The ABS group discussed strategies on access and benefit-sharing, and how the inclusion of these in national biodiversity strategies (149 of which are now underway) could help the development of access legislation that is geared to meet priority national needs, facilitate fair partnerships and ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits.

The ABS group also examined how national ABS legislation can best take into account
and harmonize with the possible development of a multilateral system for the international
exchange of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA). The ABS group discussed
potential "user measures'" - ranging from binding legal measures to voluntary instruments such
as industry "codes of conduct" - that countries importing genetic resources might take to support
effective implementation of ABS legislation in source countries. The 8(j) group explored a
number of instruments for protecting the intellectual property of indigenous and local
communities, for securing their prior approval for the use of their traditional knowledge and for
ensuring the fair and equitable sharing of resulting benefits. These may include specific draft
laws to implement Article 8(j); the inclusion of 8(j) provisions in access legislation, and
local-level measures such as community registers. The 8(j) group also examined the link
between Article 8(j) and various kinds of intellectual property rights, including patents, plant
variety rights, trade marks and appellation of origin.

GBF Focal contacts:For ABS: Charles Barber e-mail: (cvbarber@ibm.net) and For Article 8(j): Alejandro Argumedo (e-mail: ipbn@web.net)

Some of the Workshop presentations are available as PDF files; the table below is identical to that on the GBF website and has the same links.

Workshop presentations

Friday 12 May 2000
SESSION 1. Access to Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge under the CBD Current Issues and the Way Forward for COP5 (Chair: Sem Shikongo, Namibian National Biodiversity Programme, Namibia)
The CBD Panel of Experts on Access and Benefit Sharing: key conclusions and their implications for COP5, by Jorge Cabrera Medaglia, Co-Chair, CBD Panel of Experts on Access and Benefit Sharing
The first meeting of the Working Group on the Implementation of Article 8(j) and Related Articles: Key conclusions and their implications for COP5
Access, benefit sharing, and the protection of traditional knowledge: Bringing them together at COP5 and beyond, by Brendan Tobin, Peruvian delegate, ABS Experts Panel and 8(j) Working Group
Participation in the formulation of policies on access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge protection, by Krystyna Swiderska, International Institute for Environment and Development, UK
Saturday 13 May 2000
ABS Subgroup:	Article 8(j) Subgroup:
SESSION 2. Incorporating Access and Benefit Sharing Arrangements in National Biodiversity Strategies, Action Plans and Legislation (Chair: Jose Carlos Fernandez Ugalde, FUNATURA, Mexico)	SESSION 2. Strategies and instruments for protecting the traditional knowledge of indigenous and local communities (Part 1) (Chair: Stella Tamang, Nepal Federation of Nationalities, Nepal)
The role of strategic planning in the design of national policy on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing: The genetic resources component of Bolivia's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, by Kerry ten Kate & Adrian Wells, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (UK) and Mario Baudoin & Beatriz Zapata, Directorate General for Biodiversity (Bolivia)	The Draft Peruvian Law for the protection of traditional knowledge: A sui generis approach, by Begoña Venero, National Patent Office (Peru)
Incorporating access and benefit-sharing issues into India's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, by Bansuri Taneja, Kalpavriskh (India)	AIPR and IPR: Intellectual Property Rights and Indigenous Peoples Rights, The Aotorea Experience, by Maui Solomon, Aotearoa (New Zealand)
The need to incorporate consideration of the special case of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture into development of national policies and legislation on access and benefit-sharing, by International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Italy	Protecting Indigenous Knowledge in the Pacific: Recent Developments, by Clark Peteru (Samoa)
Developing new approaches for access and benefit sharing: The concept of the common good? by Anthony Onugu, Bioresources Development and Conservation Program (Nigeria)	Community property rights systems: Developing an ABS community protocol for agrobiodiversity in the Andes" B ANDES (Peru)
SESSION 3. Regional Frameworks for Genetic Resources Access and Benefit-Sharing: Recent Developments in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia (Chair: Geoff Hawtin, International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Italy)	SESSION 3. Strategies and instruments for protecting the traditional knowledge of indigenous and local communities (Part 2) (Chair: Alejandro Argumedo, Indigenous Peoples Biodiversity Network, Peru)
Regional and sub-regional instruments and approaches to access and benefit-sharing, and local community rights: Issues and Trends in Africa, by Kent Nnadozie, Bioresources Development and Conservation Program (Nigeria)	Access to Genetic Resources and the Protection of Indigenous Knowledge under Australia's Biodiversity Act, by Stephan Schnierer, College of Indigenous Australian Peoples, Southern Cross University (Australia
The ASEAN framework agreement on access to genetic resources: An access instrument or impediment? by Elpidio Peria, South East Asia Regional Institute for Community Education (SEARICE), Philippines	Information and Communication Issues in the Implementation of Article 8(j): Towards the Development of Indigenous Clearing-house Mechanisms, by Preston Hardison, Indigenous Biodiversity Information Network (USA)
The Andean Community regional framework law on access to genetic resources: Lessons learned and recent developments, by Manolo Ruiz, SPDA (Peru)	The role of indigenous women in the protection of Traditional Knowledge for the conservation and sustainable use of Biodiversity, by Stella Tamang, Nepal Federation of Nationalities (Nepal)
Draft elements for legislation on access to genetic resources: The Crucible Group proposal, by Mita Manek, Crucible Group	The debate on access and benefit sharing: The way forward? by Sem Shikongo, National Biodiversity Programme (Namibia)
SESSION 4. Beyond source-country access legislation and bioprospecting contracts: Options for international access and benefit sharing norms and mechanisms, and legal measures in genetic resource (Chair: A.H. Zakri, Malaysia)	SESSION 4. Intellectual Property Rights and Protection of Traditional Knowledge Under Article 8(j) (Chair: Stephan Schnierer, Australia)
New challenges in access and benefit-sharing mechanisms: The example of the Maya ICBG bioprospecting project in Mexico, by Jose Carlos Fernandez Ugalde, PRONATURA (Mexico)	The Implementation of CBD article 8(j) in the context of CBD article 15 and the TRIPs agreement: The equitable protection and promotion of traditional and marginalized knowledge, by Robert Lettington, International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (Kenya)
The Draft Guidelines on Access and Benefit Sharing Regarding the Utilisation of Genetic Resources: A Proposal of International Guidelines by Switzerland, Presented to COP5, by Alwin Kopse, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, (Switzerland)	Intellectual property for biodiversity-related knowledge: Lessons learnt from the development of plant variety protection legislation in India in the context of the TRIPS agreement, by Philippe Cullet, International Environmental Law Research Centre (Switzerland )
A proposal for a genetic resources access and benefit-sharing mediation mechanism, by Richard Gerster, Gerster Development Consultants (Switzerland)	Pre-emptive defensive patents, indigenous knowledge and biological diversity: Expanding the frontiers of the international patent system for a sustainable environment, by Ikechi Mgbeoji, Dalhousie University, (Canada)
Two to tango: The need for legal measures on access and benefit-sharing by user nations, by Charles Barber, World Resources Institute (Philippines)	AIPRs and Access and Benefit Sharing: Results of a WIPO-UNEP Study, by UNEP
SESSION 5. Open Forum on Key Issues Raised in Subgroup	SESSION 5. Open Forum on Key Issues Raised in Subgroup
SESSION 6. Presentation and Discussion of Key Issues and Recommendations from ABS and 8(j) Subgroups