Sharing genetic resources fairly between nations

Abstract

The global governance of natural resources was established initially by Convention on Biodiversity(CBD) in 1992 followed by Nagoya Protocol(NP) in 2010 with an objective of ensuring fairness and equitable benefit sharing arising from the exploitation of genetic resources creating incentive at the same time for the conservation and sustainable use of such resources. The framework has been criticized for its inefficiency in achieving its objectives. Recently it has been the subject of debate on whether digital sequence information is covered by the term ‘genetic resources’. There are divergent views in different countries on how digital sequencing information (DSI) should be defined and whether the information derived or non-tangible aspect of genetic resources should also fall under the ABS regime. The present paper analyses the Indian position on these points.