The Nagoya Protocol and its implications for classical weed biological control

LUCIANA SILVESTRI; ALEJANDRO SOSA; FERNANDO MCKAY; MARCELO DINIZ VITORINO; MARTIN HILL; COSTAS ZACHARIADES; STEPHEN HIGHT

Engelberg

Simposio; XV International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds; 2018

International Organization for Biological Control

The international regime on Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) establishes that genetic resources shall be accessed only upon the existence of prior inform consent of the country that provides those resources and that benefits arising from their utilization shall be shared between the users of the resources and the provider. The ABS mechanism was first introduced in the Convention on Biological Diversity and was further developed by the Nagoya Protocol. ABS national legislations or regulatory requirements have been considered a challenging obstacle to classical weed biological control (CWBC); as added bureaucracy has proved an impediment for efficient and effective implementation of CWBC programs across the world. In this paper we briefly draw on the experiences of Argentina, Brazil, and South Africa, three source countries of biological control agents, to discuss how national ABS legislation can negatively impact the exchange of biodiversity resources. We conclude it is important to raise awareness amongst policy makers on the key role CWBC could play in different sectors and to persuade them to develop tailored ABS legal frameworks that adequately suit CWBC research and practice.