ENB@ The First Open Ad-Hoc Working Group on Access and Benefit Sharing, 22-26 October 200, Bonn, Germany

FIRST AD HOC OPEN-ENDED WORKING GROUP ON
ACCESS AND BENEFIT-SHARING

22-26 October 2001 Bonn, Germany

Web Archive:

| Curtain Raiser | Tue 23 | Wed 24 | Thu 25 | Fri 26 |

Highlights of Thursday, 25 October 2001

Delegates to the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) met in a morning Plenary to hear reports from the two Sub-Working Groups and a report on the CBD's draft strategic plan. Sub-Working Group I (SWG-I) continued discussing the draft guidelines on ABS briefly in a morning session, and then convened a contact group, which continued deliberations throughout the day. Sub-Working Group II (SWG-II) discussed draft recommendations on the role of intellectual property rights (IPR) in ABS arrangements. Left photo L-R: The dias during the morning plenary session included Paul Chabeda, Ruben Olembo, Hamdallah Zedan, Mohamad Bin Osman and Olivier Jalbert.

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	PLENARY:
	Co-Chair Mohamad bin Osman (Malaysia) opened this morning's Plenary.

	Above photo (L-R): SWG-I Chair Birthe Ivars (Norway) and SWG-II Chair Jorge Cabrera Medaglia (Costa Rica) reported on the progress of their Sub-Working Groups and items still remaining for discussion.

	CBD Executive Secretary Hamdallah Zedan (left) highlighted efforts, including a workshop in the Seychelles (May 2001), to develop a strategic plan for the CBD from 2002-2010. He noted that the Intersessional Meeting on the Strategic Plan, National Reports and Implementation of the CBD would consider the draft plan, which includes elements on: mission statement; vision; operational goals; action plans; and monitoring, reporting, assessment, review and communication. Zedan called for input on ABS issues

	SUB-WORKING GROUP I:

	On endorsement or processing and approval of agreements by competent national authorities, IRAN (left), on behalf of the G-77/ CHINA, called for deletion of "endorsement."

	The EC (right) requested keeping the brackets. On two alternatives for the chapeau on responsibilities, the first one referring to Parties, in particular when they are countries of origin, and the second one to countries of origin that provide genetic resources, the G-77/CHINA preferred the second option.

	Regarding user responsibilities, CHINA suggested language on promoting technology transfer to providing countries.

	CONTACT GROUP:
	The contact group was reconvened and met throughout the afternoon to resolve outstanding issues. On general provisions, delegates debated inclusion of derivatives and products of genetic resources in the scope of the guidelines and agreed to keep such references in brackets. They agreed to incorporate reference to relevant CBD provisions in the first paragraph of the document.

	SUB-WORKING GROUP II:

	IPR, ABS and PIC:
	SWG-II considered a draft recommendation from the contact group addressing ABS and PIC. In the preamble, regarding text on the mutual supportiveness of the CBD and relevant international instruments on IPR, the US, with the EU, proposed deleting reference to achieving the CBD's objectives and ABS.

	THAILAND proposed, and others agreed, to delete only reference to CBD objectives.

	John Herity (CANADA) (left) proposed, and delegates agreed, to new preambular text noting the importance of contracting approaches. Delegates also agreed to move text on recording contributions to inventions to the preamble, while disagreeing over text referring to the source of genetic resources that originate or are employed in biotechnological inventions. After informal consultations, language was revised to refer to disclosure of the country of origin or geographical origin.

	COLOMBIA (right) cautioned against relinquishing authority over issues within the Working Group's mandate.

	PERU (right) requested reference to the UN Commission on Human Rights in an indicative list of international organizations invited to provide input.

	IPR AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE:

	SWG-2 then discussed a draft recommendation from the contact group. Several editorial changes were made to preambular and operational paragraphs. Regarding a provision inviting reports from WIPO on its deliberations relevant to ABS and traditional knowledge, delegates agreed that reporting should be ongoing and not limited to COP-6.
	The EU (above photo) suggested shifting part of a bracketed provision on sui generis systems to the preamble, stating that they may need to be reinforced by international action.

	ENB Summary of the 2nd Experts Panel on Access and Benefit Sharing ENB coverage of ABS-1 ENB coverage of SBSTTA-6 CBD Secretariat web site with official documents, information for participants and Pre-Registration Form ENB's Introduction to the CBD World Intellectual Property Organization
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