Access & Benefits Sharing

Environment Canada had engaged NWAC with regard to the development of Canadian positions on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) under the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity. In recent years, Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have focused their attention on efforts to “elaborate and negotiate an international regime on access to genetic resources and benefit sharing (ABS).” The proposed ABS regime will consist of one or more instruments, which may be legally binding or voluntary, and is being elaborated in the CBD’s Ad-Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) with a target completion date of 2010.

In order to build the ABS capacity of under-engaged National Aboriginal Organizations and provide viewpoints from Aboriginal women on ABS, genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, NWAC engaged a contractor to hold informational strategy discussions and training with NWAC’s environment and international staff as well as to facilitate a workshop on this matter on March 12, 2009. The contractor completed the research and prepared an extensive briefing paper which included a section on recommended strategies for NWAC in the ongoing CBD ABS negotiations, and the national ABS policy discussions in Canada.

In preparation for the upcoming 7th meeting of the Ad hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing in Paris in April 2009 and the Ninth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Germany in May 2008, these developed positions on ABS were submitted to NWAC’s Board for input and direction to allow for next steps and a strategic way forward. Two International ABS working groups are being held in North America in Montreal in November 2009 on Article 8(j) regarding traditional knowledge and ABS regime on intellectual property, and on traditional knowledge.

The UN member states are hoping to have a legally binding international regime on ABS by October 2010. The upcoming meetings are critical as there may not be further opportunity to have input into the international standards. NWAC has been in discussion with the Canadian ABS office regarding funding support for NWAC’s participation at the November working committee meetings; however, we have yet to receive a positive response.