Event Title
The Nagoya Protocal on Access and Benefit Sharing in Genetic Resources and Biodiversity Conservation in Africa
Location
Room 107
Start Date
2-7-2012 3:00 PM
End Date
2-7-2012 4:40 PM
Description
The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity (hereinafter the Protocol) was adopted at the tenth conference of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (hereinafter CBD) on the 29th October 2010 in Nagoya Japan. The Protocol aims at implementing the third objective of the CBD namely fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from utilization of genetic resources. To this end, the Protocol is seen as a milestone in the regulation of access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge corresponding to Articles 15 and 8(j) of the CBD respectively. Reviewing documented cases of biopiracy in Africa since the CBD entered into force seventeen years ago, poverty levels and dependency on the natural environment among communities in Africa as well as inability of conventional intellectual property rights to protect traditional knowledge, this paper investigates whether or not the Protocol is too little too late. It is concluded that while the Protocol signifies an important step in international environmental law, complementarities and synergies need to be sough elsewhere including World Trade Organization (WTO) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) processes related to traditional knowledge and associated genetic resources.
The Nagoya Protocal on Access and Benefit Sharing in Genetic Resources and Biodiversity Conservation in Africa
Room 107
The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity (hereinafter the Protocol) was adopted at the tenth conference of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (hereinafter CBD) on the 29th October 2010 in Nagoya Japan. The Protocol aims at implementing the third objective of the CBD namely fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from utilization of genetic resources. To this end, the Protocol is seen as a milestone in the regulation of access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge corresponding to Articles 15 and 8(j) of the CBD respectively. Reviewing documented cases of biopiracy in Africa since the CBD entered into force seventeen years ago, poverty levels and dependency on the natural environment among communities in Africa as well as inability of conventional intellectual property rights to protect traditional knowledge, this paper investigates whether or not the Protocol is too little too late. It is concluded that while the Protocol signifies an important step in international environmental law, complementarities and synergies need to be sough elsewhere including World Trade Organization (WTO) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) processes related to traditional knowledge and associated genetic resources.