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10th CFRS Meeting & ABS Workshop

The next meeting of the Committee on Freedom and Responsibility in the conduct of Science (CFRS) will be hosted by the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT). Adjoined to this is an International Workshop on "Access to Genetic Resources and the Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Utilization (ABS)". Both events are closed meetings.
What
  • Universality of Science
  • Freedom and responsibility
  • Policy Committees and Governance
  • Traditional knowledge
When May 25, 2011 08:00 AM to
May 27, 2011 05:00 PM
Where Berne, Switzerland
Contact Name
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This International Workshop is organised and hosted by the SCNAT, whose Biodiversity Forum has been concerned with the issue of Access and Benefit Sharing for several years, in collaboration with ICSU CFRS, given its activities related to the rights and responsibilities of scientists in the conduct of their work.

Synopsis

The objectives of the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) are the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity as well as the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits resulting from their utilization. The last aspect is regulated in the so-called Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) system.

Biodiversity research generates important knowledge to implement the first two CBD objectives. To this end, academic non-commercial research depends on access to biological resources in-situ and ex-situ, on their exchange within the research community and on the availability of the research results. At the same time, academic non-commercial research is subject to the ABS system, which is based on sovereign rights of states over their genetic resources and implies procedures for access to genetic resources.

The application of the ABS system has led to problems. In some cases, provider countries imposed restrictive ABS procedures to prevent biopiracy as well as uncontrolled and undeclared transfer of resources to third parties, sidestepping benefit-sharing obligations. Researchers, irrespective of whether they are citizens or guest researchers, are concerned that academic non-commercial research will become increasingly difficult. This could ultimately lead to the abandonment of biodiversity research.

In 2010, the CBD Parties adopted the Nagoya Protocol that spells out in more detail the rights and obligations for the Contracting Parties regarding access procedures, the transparency of the utilisation as well as the monitoring and control of the benefit sharing. If properly implemented by all parties, this could potentially settle some of the existing problems. Importantly, the Protocol contains a clause regarding simplified access for academic non-commercial research.

Processes to implement the Protocol are presently under way at both the international and national level. In this important phase, the scientific community needs to get involved to shape the future conditions for biodiversity research. In recognising this responsibility, the workshop proposes to elaborate and evaluate possible courses of action and to explore the rights and responsibilities of scientists in this regard. The objective is to contribute to solutions that are optimal for both provider countries and academic non-commercial research as well as for the conservation and sustainable use of genetic diversity.

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