The Access and Benefit-Sharing Clearing-House (ABS Clearing-House or ABSCH) has been developed as a tool to support the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol. It serves as a means for sharing of information related to access and benefit-sharing arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. In particular, it provides access to information made available Parties, as well as other stakeholders, relevant to the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol.

1. Please ensure you are using the latest version of a popular internet browser, such as: 

• For Firefox: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/
• For Chrome: https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/browser/ei
• For Internet Explorer (9+): http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ca/internet-explorer/download-ie

2. To be able to submit reference records, you will need a CBD Account. Opening an account only takes a few minutes and requires a valid email address.

3. To publish national records, in addition to a CBD Account, you will also need the appropriate role (Publishing Authority or Authorized User) to access and publish information on behalf of your government.

ABSCH Training site roles

The accounts below have been created for use on the Training Site of the ABS Clearing-House and the Biosafety Clearing-House. Users may log-in to the accounts below to practice submission of national information either as a Publishing Authority (PA) or as a National Authorized User (NAU).

Please note that any records published or modified on the Training Site will NOT affect the official ABSCH site.  

Please also watch the Video about Training Site created in-house by the Secretariat for the Biosafety Clearing-House, however the site is very similar to the ABSCH and can give you a very good idea of how the ABSCH training site works.

Choose any of the accounts below:   

National websites and databases may hold information relevant to ABS that can assist Parties with the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol. They may also provide specific information about genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources. Examples of a national websites or database could be a national clearing-house on ABS information, or any other national websites that host relevant information on ABS.

To sign in, click the “SIGN IN” link located at the very the top right corner of the page, and enter your email and password.  If you have forgotten your password please click the following link to reset it: accounts.cbd.int/password/reset. If you don’t have a CBD account, you can create one at: accounts.cbd.int/signup

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Once you have signed in, click on “Submit” in the main navigation bar and you will be taken to your Record Management Centre Dashboard. 

Dashboard

The Dashboard provides an overview of the shared national records for your country. Click on the name of the type of record you would like to edit or add to the ABS Clearing-House. 

Open a submission form

Next, click the "Add New" button or click on the "Edit" icon associated to the record you would like to update to open the submission form.

Submission form controls

Please fill in the submission form and complete all fields. Mandatory fields are indicated with an asterisk(*). The highlighted button shows you what step of the submission process you are currently on.  Clicking on the "Introduction" tab will give you important information on how to complete the form. Clicking on the "Review" tab will allow you to preview the record and highlight the mandatory fields that need to be filled before it is possible to publish the record. The record can be saved as a draft at any time. Frequently saving of records is recommended.

Submission language(s)

It is possible to introduce information one or more of the six official UN languages. The first question on each submission form asks you to select the languages you wish to submit the record in (at least one language needs to be selected). 

Website language

If you wish to view to the submission form in another language, you may change the language of the website by selecting one of the UN languages from the drop down menu located at the very top right hand corner of the screen. 

The mandatory information in this form includes: name of the Website or database, a short description and the full URL. URL links to webpages can often change, if the URL changes please remember to update the record.

Once you have completed all the fields, click on the “Review” tab to check that all the mandatory fields have been properly filled. On this tab a message will highlight any missing fields that need to be filled before it is possible to publish the record. You may click on the missing field to go to that field in the submission form.

When all the mandatory fields have been filled correctly, the message “the document is valid” will appear.  You are almost done! The next and final step is to publish the record.

To publish a record, click on the "Publish" tab. If you record contains any errors you will be redirected back to the Review tab until the errors are correct.  Please note that you can save the record as a draft at any time. 

If you are the Publishing Authority, you see the green “Publish”  button and will be able to publish the record directly on the ABS Clearing-House.

If you are a National Authorized User, you will see the red “Request Publication” button.  Clicking this button will automatically send a request to the Publishing Authority to verify and approve your submission before it will become publicly available on the ABS Clearing-House.