Access and benefit sharing
Also called: ABS · Topic: International Trade Policy, WTO and Intellectual Property · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Access and benefit sharing (ABS) is the rule that anyone using genetic resources must first take permission and then share the gains. Genetic resources are plants, animals and microbes with useful traits. The rule also covers traditional knowledge about them. The user must get prior informed consent, meaning permission given before use by a provider who knows the full facts. Benefits must be shared on mutually agreed terms, fixed by contract between the user and the provider. ABS comes from the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 1992 and the Nagoya Protocol (2010, in force 2014). It lets countries and communities rich in biodiversity earn from their resources and knowledge instead of losing them for free.
Example
In India, ABS is run under the Biological Diversity Act 2002 (amended in 2023). The National Biodiversity Authority in Chennai handles it, along with State Biodiversity Boards and local Biodiversity Management Committees. A company that wants to make a medicine from a forest herb used by a tribal community must get approval first. It must then share part of its gains with that community, for example as a royalty or a lump-sum payment.
Don't confuse with
- Biopiracy: biopiracy is the wrong that happens when these rules are ignored. ABS is the legal system that prevents it.
Related concepts
- Copyright
- Trademark
- Industrial design
- Trade secret
- Layout-design of integrated circuits
- Geographical indication
- Plant variety protection
- Farmers' rights
- Biopiracy