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ABS Management Tool

Since the ABS Management Tool (ABS–MT) was published in 2007, international law has been developed to regulate the use of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was adopted in late 2010, opened for signature on February 2, 2011, and will enter into force once 50 instruments of ratification are in place.

With the support of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Stratos Inc., in cooperation with Geoff Burton and Jorge Cabrera, updated the ABS–MT to accommodate the new language of the Nagoya Protocol and to assist users and providers of genetic resources and the Parties to the CBD to prepare for the introduction and further implementation of the Nagoya Protocol.

The ABS–MT has been written as:

  1. A best practice standard and a handbook that provides voluntary guidance to the users and providers of genetic resources—a tool on ABS practice to help companies, researchers, indigenous and local communities, and governments to comply with the ABS requirements under the Convention on Biological Diversity, including the Bonn Guidelines and the Nagoya Protocol.

  2. A guidance document to assist governments as they consider their responsibilities, obligations, and opportunities under the Nagoya Protocol and as they seek to determine which of the available options and flexibilities are appropriate for their national circumstance.

It also serves as source material for capacity building on ABS to support the Nagoya Protocol.

The updated ABS–MT contains several important revisions including:

The previous version of the ABS–MT is available in English, French and Spanish and can be obtained under the ABS Navigation menu to the right.

The updated ABS–MT can be viewed and downloaded from the following locations:



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