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.

Help using the ABS Clearing-House is always available. The Secretariat is happy to help if you experience any technical difficulties or if you have any questions or feedback on using the ABS Clearing-House. To contact  the Secretariat, please  e-mail us at absch@cbd.int or use the live chat help desk.  The live chat help desk can be accessed by clicking on the green question mark located in the bottom right corner of the page for immediate interaction with Secretariat staff for technical support and guidance.

Article 12, paragraph 1, of the Nagoya Protocol provides that Parties, in implementing their obligations under the Protocol, shall in accordance with domestic law take into consideration indigenous and local communities’ customary laws, community protocols and procedures, as applicable, with respect to traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources. Furthermore, Parties are to endeavor to support, as appropriate, the development by indigenous and local communities of community protocols in relation to access to traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources and benefits arising out of the utilization of such knowledge (Article 12, paragraph 3, (a)). Making this information available is important to help improve understanding and respect for a community’s procedures and values related to accessing traditional knowledge related with genetic resources. 

Please note: This guide refers to publishing Community Protocols and Procedures and Customary Laws (CPP) as reference records in the ABS Clearing-House. Reference records can be submitted by all users of the ABSCH and are verified by the SCBD prior to publication. If you wish to publish this information as part of a country’s national legal framework on ABS, then please use the national record format for submitting legislative, administrative or policy measures on ABS (ABS Measures). Submitting national records are only available to officially designated national users.

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 key sections of the Community Protocols and Procedures and Customary Laws form are General information, Attachment of the files, documents, or resources, and Information on the content of attachments.

General Information

In the first key information section please enter the title, select the type of resource, its author, and the publication year. If the author is an organization, please also add the organization under “Authoring organizations”, click the button to open the list organizations. If you cannot find a particular organization, you will need to add a new one by clicking ‘Add new organization’.

Attached files, documents or resources

In the second key information section, please add a link and/or add a file as a link to the community protocol and procedure and customary laws being uploaded to the ABS Clearing-House. In general, attachments are preferred to links, because links can change frequently and require updating. It is also possible to specify the type of file you are submitting (audio file, image, e-book, text document or video for example) under “Format/File type”. This will allow users to conveniently be able to download your resource file.

Information on the content of attachments

In the third part of the submission form, please provide a concise summary or abstract not more than 300 words. If the resource being registered relates or applies to a particular country or region, select the relevant countries from the drop-down menu. Also, please select the “Thematic area(s)” that apply to the document, by checking the corresponding boxes. It is also useful to remember that the selections made by you can help a user find your record in the ABS Clearing-House. When a user searches for records, they have the option of selecting various filters. By making the appropriate selections, you may increase the likelihood of reaching the target audience. 

The final part of the submission is “Additional Information”. Please include any other relevant information in these sections. The purpose of the additional information section is to help users better understand the customary protocols and procedures. 

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.