The Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House (ABS Clearing-House, ABSCH) is a platform for exchanging information on access and benefit-sharing established by Article 14 of the Nagoya Protocol, as part of clearing-house mechanism under Article 18, paragraph 3 of the Convention. The ABS Clearing-House is a key tool for facilitating the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol by enhancing legal certainty, clarity and transparency on procedures for access and for monitoring the utilization of genetic resources along the value chain. By making relevant information regarding ABS available, the ABS Clearing-House helps users access genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, and providers fairly and equitably share in the benefits arising from their utilization.

The primary goal of the ABS Clearing-House is to share information in order to:

• Assist users in finding information on how to access genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge; and
• Assist providers in receiving information related to the utilization of their genetic resources once they leave the provider country’s jurisdiction.

Background

The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) was negotiated in order to provide greater legal certainty and transparency for both providers and users of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge by:

• Establishing more predictable conditions for access to those resources; and
• Helping to ensure benefit-sharing when genetic resources leave the contracting Party providing the genetic resources.

Researchers and businesses need legal clarity, certainty and transparency when accessing genetic resources and/or associated traditional knowledge. Without such legal certainty, potential users of genetic resources and/or associate traditional knowledge could be less eager to invest in bioprospecting and researching activities, as their activities may lead to controversy and allegations of misappropriation or misuse of these resources or knowledge.

Providers of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, on the other hand, want to ensure that benefits arising from the utilization of their resources are shared in a fair and equitable manner once the resource or knowledge leaves the country.

The ABS Clearing-House can help everyone get what they want

What Providers want:

• Control over access to their own genetic resources (GR) and traditional knowledge (TK)
• Ensure that users comply with all conditions set in mutual agreed terms (MAT)
• Assurance that the entitled benefits arising from utilization are received in accordance with MAT

What Users want:

• Access to GR and associated TK
• A clear understanding about how to access GR and TK
• Legal certainty for utilizing GR and TK when due process has been followed

What everybody wants:

• Fair and equitable sharing of benefits
• Sustainable use of biodiversity
• Conservation of biodiversity

The Nagoya Protocol's provisions on access, benefit-sharing and compliance provide a framework that aims to address the concerns of both users and providers. However, in order to translate the Nagoya Protocol into practice, Parties need to create the necessary conditions and take the measures required by the Protocol to ensure that a national framework is in place to implement ABS at the national level and enable the development of ABS agreements for the benefit of all involved in the process. It is in this context and with this aim that Parties to the CBD included Article 14 in the Nagoya Protocol, which establishes the ABS Clearing-House.

The Nagoya Protocol establishes the ABS Clearing-House, as part of the clearing-house mechanism of the Convention, as a means for sharing information related to access and benefit-sharing, and in particular its goal is to provide access to information made available by each Party relevant to the implementation of the Protocol.

The ABS Clearing-House allows countries to share information on procedures for accessing genetic resources and monitor the utilization of the resources along the value chain. The ABS Clearing-House plays a key role in enhancing the legal certainty and transparency that both providers and users of genetic resources, as well as associated traditional knowledge, are looking for.

The ABS Clearing-House is helping to make the "ABC's" of ABS a reality

The "ABC's" of ABS:

• Access – Enhancing legal certainty, transparency and clarity on how to access genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.
• Benefit-sharing – Contributing to increase opportunities for sharing benefits from the use of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.
• Compliance – Assisting to ensure compliance with ABS measures and transparency in monitoring the utilization of genetic resources through the value chain.

A fully functional ABS Clearing-House also represents a major step in achieving Aichi Biodiversity Target 16, which provides that by 2015, the Nagoya Protocol is in force and operational, consistent with national legislation.

More information:

• The ABS portal on the CBD website
• Key developments related to the ABS Clearing-House
• Relevant decisions and documents on the ABS Clearing-House
• Text of the Nagoya Protocol  and courtesy translations
• How to become a Party: States and regional economic integration organizations that are Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity are eligible to become a Party to the Nagoya Protocol. The United Nations Secretary-General acts as depository for the Nagoya Protocol through the United Nations Treaty Section in New York.
• Information on the current membership of the COP-MOP Bureau
• Nagoya Protocol COP-MOP Decisions

In practical terms, ABS Clearing-House is a website, administered by the CBD Secretariat and established by Article 14 of the Nagoya Protocol. It is designed to enable Parties, but also non-Parties, indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs), international and non-governmental organizations, research institutions and businesses to make information relevant to ABS available in a standardized, and open and organized global repository.  The Protocol identifies essential information, as well as additional information to be made available through the ABS Clearing-House,  in an standardized, open and organized way, in order to enhance certainty, clarity and transparency in access and benefit-sharing. 

Facts about the ABS Clearing-House

• It is a website and global repository of ABS information
• It is designed to be user-friendly and interoperable with other websites
• It shares information, published by Parties as well as others, to facilitate ABS and the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol

Parties and Non-Parties

By publishing national information on the ABS Clearing-House, Parties to the Nagoya Protocol and other governments, help both users and providers of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. Users can find the information they need to access genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, while providers will find tools to monitor the utilization of these resources. Parties have an obligation to use the ABS Clearing-House to share certain information of particular importance to the implementation of the Protocol. Non-Parties to the Protocol are also encouraged to participate and use the ABS Clearing-House to share the same information required by Parties.

Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs)

IPLCs can use the ABS Clearing-House to share information on how to access traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, such as community protocols and procedures and customary laws. They can also access and contribute to the ABS Clearing-House with awareness-raising and capacity-building materials on ABS in their own indigenous languages.

Private sector and research institutions

Private sector and research institutions utilizing or seeking access to genetic resources can also benefit from the ABS Clearing-House by finding reliable and up-to-date information on how to access genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. They can also use the ABS Clearing-House to share information on the model contractual clauses, codes of conduct, guidelines and best practices that they have developed.

Organizations involved in capacity-building for the Nagoya Protocol

Organizations involved in capacity-building for the Nagoya Protocol can share capacity-building resources and materials and information on their projects or activities, including lessons learned from their implementation. In exchange, they are able to access information on projects or resources registered by other actors, and therefore, create opportunities for capitalizing best practices and developing coordinated approaches to building and developing capacity.

International and non-governmental organizations and others

International and non-governmental organizations and others can raise awareness and promote capacity building on ABS through the ABS Clearing-House. The ABS Clearing-House offers a space to share materials, general literature and learning material related to ABS and the Nagoya Protocol. These resources can contribute to promote ratification and implementation of the Nagoya Protocol, as well as increase opportunities for collaboration among the ABS community.

Facilitates connections between users and providers of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.

The  ABS Clearing-House allows providers to share information on contacts, procedures and requirements for accessing genetic resources and traditional knowledge. Users can use the ABS Clearing-House to easily find information how to access these resources in an organized manner, and all in one convenient location. By providing access to reliable information the ABS Clearing-House facilitates the connection between users and providers of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, and therefore promotes opportunities to develop fair and equitable ABS agreements.

Helps users to comply with ABS measures and requirements.

By sharing reliable information regarding national procedures and requirements on ABS, countries can help users of their genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge understand and follow ABS rules and facilitate users’ compliance with national legislation.

Provides tools to help monitor the utilization of genetic resources.

Through a centralized and standardized system the ABS Clearing-House plays a key role in helping providers monitor how their genetic resources are being used throughout the value chain. When a provider country grants access to a genetic resource and publishes information on the permit or its equivalent, the ABS Clearing-House automatically generates an internationally recognized certificate of compliance (IRCC).

The IRCC provides evidence a permit or its equivalent was issued and that the user has complied with the provider country's ABS rules and procedures. The IRCC can facilitate users of genetic resources to provide the required information to the checkpoints established along the value chain. The information collected or received by checkpoints is then published on the  ABS Clearing-House in a format called a checkpoint communiqué (CPC). The ABS Clearing-House makes this information publicly available and also sends the checkpoint communiqué, as an email, to alert all those involved in the process, and most importantly the Party providing prior informed consent (the provider country), to inform them of the utilization taking place. These tools have been set up in this way in order to allow for monitoring to be possible even when genetic resources leave the provider country's jurisdiction.

Offers reliable and up-to-date information.

The information available on the ABS Clearing-House follows secure publishing procedures. These procedures ensure that users have access to accurate information on ABS, making the process of access and utilization of genetic resources more fair, transparent and reliable.

Promotes awareness-raising and capacity-building for the Nagoya Protocol.

The ABS community can use the ABS Clearing-House to share experiences in implementing the Nagoya Protocol, capacity-building resources, communication materials and publications on ABS to a wider audience. In this way, the ABS Clearing-House plays an important role in building capacity to implement the Protocol and providing easy access to best practices, lessons learned and materials.

Promotes efficiencies in developing capacity-building projects and materials for the Nagoya Protocol

Countries and organizations can share information on their projects, resources and materials for building capacity for the Nagoya Protocol. Having all available information in a single place can help organizations and countries to learn from other projects, to create synergies both at the design and implementation stage of projects and avoid the duplication of efforts in capacity-building activities and materials.

Paragraph 1(c) of the modalities of operation of the ABS Clearing-House (decision NP-1/2, annex) provides that the Secretariat shall design the ABS Clearing-House to be interoperable and facilitate the exchange of information with other databases and systems, in particular Parties’ databases, as well as databases of other instruments and organizations.

With this aim, the Secretariat has developed an application programming interface (API). The API is the main tool to facilitate interoperability and the exchange of information with other IT systems or databases, in particular the IT systems of Parties, as well as, of other instruments and organizations. The API provides a standard interface described by a set of standard protocols to facilitate interaction with computer systems. The API is meant to allow the seamless integration of the data and functions of the ABS Clearing-House into other systems in ways that best fit their own needs, workflows and technologies.

Parties and others can make use of the API to avoid duplication in the submission of information to the ABS Clearing-House and, at the same time, create national or regional information systems that are fully compatible with the ABS Clearing-House. This may be particularly useful for domestic information systems containing information on permits or their equivalent or information collected or received to implement Article 17 of the Protocol.

Documentation for developers on the use of the API is available at: scbd.github.io.

Examples and sample code is available at: github.com/scbd/api-examples.

Please note the development of the API documentation, examples, and sample code is an on-going effort and is updated regularly.

For more information on how to use the API please contact the Secretariat at: absch@cbd.int.

The CBD Secretariat organizes webinars, trainings and workshops to build capacity for the use of the ABS Clearing-House. In an effort to maximize effectiveness and efficiency, trainings are be conducted online and remotely (webinars, MS TEAMS) when possible. Face-to-face group training may be integrated into relevant regional or global workshops and events organized by the CBD Secretariat and partner organizations.

If you are interested in an online training on the ABS Clearing-House. please contact the CBD Secretariat (absch@cbd.int) for more information.

Developing a national ABS Clearing-House is not a requirement of the Protocol. However, if a country decides to build a national ABS Clearing-House, please keep in mind:

• The ABS Clearing-House is designed to be interoperable with other databases and systems, in particular Parties’ databases, as well as databases of other instruments and organizations.
• The application programming interface (API), is the main mechanism to implement interoperability,  and is meant to allow the seamless integration of the data and functions of the ABS Clearing-House into other systems in ways that best fit their own needs, workflows and technologies.
• The API can be used to help avoid duplication in the submission of information to the ABS Clearing-House and, at the same time, create national or regional information systems that are fully compatible and streamlined with the ABS Clearing-House and obligation of the Protocol.

For information or questions please do not hesitate to contact us. We are always happy to hear from you and we would be pleased to organize a phone call.

Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity

413 Saint-Jacques Street, suite 800
Montreal, Quebec, H2Y 1N9
Canada

Tel.: +1 514 288 2220
Fax: +1 514 288 6588

Email: absch@cbd.int

The ABS Clearing-House (ABSCH) provides various help tools to assist with website navigation and performing various tasks. Below is a list of various help materials available in the ABSCH.

The Knowledge Base  Accessible through the “Help” menu on the top navigation bar,  you will find various categories of helpful information about the ABSCH, such as introductory information about the ABSCH and the Nagoya Protocol, as well as detailed walkthrough on how to perform specific clearing-house tasks. 

Step-by-step guides  The Secretariat has prepared step-by-step guides to provide detailed instructions to assist with using the ABS Clearing-House and publishing records.

Contextual help   Accessible by clicking on the question mark icon located on the top right corner of the website. Contextual help automatically searches the knowledge base to provide you with information related to the page you are currently on. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)  Accessible through the “Help” menu on the top navigation bar.

TOURs These are virtual explanatory tours that walk users through the features and functionality of a specific page. Tours can be especially useful for first-time users.

Tours are available on the following pages:

• Search
• Country profiles
• Submit - dashboard

Chat with our help desk  Click the green question mark icon located neat the bottom right corner of each page. 

The training website Accessible through the “Help” menu on the top navigation bar or at https://training-absch.cbd.int. The training site is a mirror copy of the official ABSCH to help users familiarize themselves with the various functionalities of the clearing-house.