For centuries, organisations were free to obtain wild seeds, bacteria or other genetic material from abroad for research and development purposes. Those days are over and, since 2014, contracts have to be signed with the country of origin. At the request of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Centre for Genetic Resources, the Netherlands (CGN) of Wageningen UR, has set up an information point on the subject, the ABS National Focal Point.
“We receive questions from companies and research institutions from across Europe,” says CGN director Bert Visser, the contact for the information point on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS). “Professors, R&D managers and lawyers wish to know whether they need to sign these contracts, for instance, and why. Or they want to know how to find the responsible authorities in the country of origin.”
Nagoya protocol
In 1992 several countries with a high level of biodiversity, including Costa Rica, Peru and Indonesia, insisted on a new principle called ‘Access and Benefit Sharing’. They wanted to share in the profits made on new medicine, seeds or other products containing genetic material from their countries. The international community agreed, but figuring out the details turned out to be harder than expected. The problem was that varieties and their genes constantly cross borders, making it difficult to determine the ‘owner’. Eventually, in 2010, the countries established a new protocol in Nagoya (Japan). The EU Regulation that ensures compliance with the Nagoya Protocol was implemented in October last year.