Nagoya Protocol

The Union Cabinet has given its approval for ratification of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS). The objective of the protocol is fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies.

India has already signed the protocol, a new international treaty adopted under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), after six years of intense negotiations. It was adopted by the tenth Conference of Parties (CoP-10) held in Nagoya in Japan in October 2010. India's move to ratify the protocol came as the 11th Conference of Parties (CoP) to the CBD is underway in Hyderabad.

The Nagoya Protocol has been signed by 92 countries. Five countries have also ratified the protocol. India signed the Nagoya Protocol on May 11, 2011.

The move gives India an opportunity to consolidate, scale-up and showcase its strengths and initiatives on biodiversity before the world, a press statement said.

India is one of the identified megadiverse countries rich in biodiversity. With only 2.4 per cent of the earth`s land area, India accounts for 7-8 per cent of the recorded species of the world. India is also rich in associated traditional knowledge, which is both coded as in ancient texts of Indian systems of medicines such as Ayurveda, Unani and Sidha, and also non-coded, as it exists in oral undocumented traditions.

The genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge can be used to develop a wide range of products and services for human benefit, such as medicines, agricultural practices and cosmetics. Much of the world`s biodiversity is found in developing countries, and can thus contribute to their economic and social development,, and also create incentives for their conservation and sustainable use, thereby contributing to the creation of a fairer and more equitable economy to support sustainable development.

The Nagoya Protocol would also contribute to the other two objectives of the CBD relating to conservation and sustainable use, since benefits accruing from utilisation of genetic resources would act as incentive to biodiversity-rich countries and their local communities to conserve and sustainably use their biodiversity.