The Government has approved the ratification of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) by India. The Cabinet decision comes in the wake of New Delhi assuming Presidentship of the eleventh Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to be held in Hyderabad this month.

The objective of the Nagoya Protocol on ABS is fair and equitable sharing of benefits, arising from the use of genetic resources, including appropriate access to genetic resources and transfer of relevant technologies.

India has also been a victim of biopiracy of its genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, which have been patented in other countries, well known examples include neem and haldi. New Delhi also expects that the ABS Protocol which is a key missing pillar of the CBD, would address this concern.

The Nagoya Protocol has been signed by 92 countries and five countries have also ratified the Protocol. India signed the Nagoya Protocol on 11th May 2011. India is also a Party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which is one of the agreements adopted during the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.