South Centre Statement on Coming into Force of the Nagoya Protocol

The following is a statement by the South Centre on the coming into force of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization.

This statement was presented by Viviana Munoz Tellez, Coordinator of the Innovation and Access to Knowledge Programme (IAKP) of the South Centre, at the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol (COP-MOP 1) held on 13-17 October 2014 at Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The South Centre is very pleased to be participating as an observer at the first meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD and to celebrate the entry into force of the Protocol.

The South Centre is an intergovernmental organization established in 1995 through an intergovernmental Agreement, with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Currently there are 51 developing countries that are member States of the South Centre. To date, 20 member States of the South Centre have ratified or acceded to the Protocol. Others are still considering the merits of doing so.

The South Centre is of the view that the Nagoya Protocol is an important framework for countries and indigenous and local communities to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, thereby contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

That said, the Protocol leaves a number of areas to be further strengthened in national legislation, including the establishment of effective check points such as patent offices, and defining precise measures for compliance with prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms. Having followed closely the negotiations in the Nagoya Protocol, we are confident these uncertainties can be addressed in national ABS legislation and in the actual implementation of the Protocol.

The South Centre has a substantive program dedicated to research and capacity building for developing countries on the CBD Nagoya Protocol and related instruments and processes, including the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), the relationship between the CBD and the WTO Agreement on Trade related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), and the work of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC).

The South Centre has been assisting developing countries in the processes of considering ratification or accession to the Protocol and in its national implementation. In August 2014, the South Centre co-organized together with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Malaysia a Workshop on the Nagoya Protocol for the Like Minded Asia Pacific Megadiverse countries.

The South Centre extends its invitation to provide capacity building to its Member States and other developing countries and least developing countries, upon request, and in the context of a strategic framework on capacity building to support the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol as may be adopted by the COP MOP, and looks forward to cooperating with the CBD, other IGOs and observers in this important endeavour.