ABSCH Knowledge Base

The clearing-house allows you to subscribe to receive emails when records that match your custom search queries are published in the clearing-house. For example, you may wish to setup an email alert to be notified when competent national authority records are added or updated by a specific country or region.

This can be done through the Email Alerts tab in Submit or “My saved searches” feature in Search. Please note that when you create email alerts using one of those features, your saved custom search queries will automatically be displayed in both places.

How to save a query and create an e-mail alert:

1. Sign-in to the clearing-house.
2. On the Submit page, click on the “Email Alerts” tab.

        OR

   On the Search page, click on the“My saved searches”tab.

3. Under the “My Alerts” section, click on the “Add new” button.
4. In the pop-up window that opens:

                --Type the title for your search query.

                --Under the Search section select the filters of interest.

                --Check the box “Send me an email when records relevant to this search are added or updated”.

                --Click on the Save button.

NOTE: When you are on the Search page, you can also start by first selecting the required filters, and then clicking on theSave this searchbutton. Since the filters have already been selected, you will only need to name your custom query search and save it. Any time you want to see all your saved search queries,  click on the “My saved searches” tab. Your search queries are displayed in the “My Alerts” section. You must be signed in to perform the described functions.

“My Alerts” section: What do the different icons mean?

Email alerts frequency

By default, email alerts are sent out weekly. However, you can change the frequency for receiving email alerts from the clearing-house. To do so: from the “Select frequency” drop-down list, select one of the following: Daily, Weekly, Monthly or Never (this option allows you to stop/pause receiving the alerts that are already created without deleting them).

Overview alerts

In the Overview alerts section, you can select the “Email me” check box to add an overview section to your email alert, which will contain a summary of all new or updated records published in the clearing-house within your selected frequency. Deselecting this option will remove the summary.

Unsubscribe

You can unsubscribe from receiving email alerts by clicking on the Unsubscribe link appearing at the bottom of your alert email.

Please also watch helpful videos below, created in-house by the Secretariat.

(Videos were recorded in the BCH. However, the ABS Clearing-House (ABSCH) functions exactly the same way!)

The Clearing-House allows you to share your draft records with other users. 

During the submission process, as soon as you click on the Save Draft button, two buttons appear on the top right corner of the online form: Share and PDF.

These buttons are visible when you open any draft record.

• You can click on the PDF button to export data into a PDF file that you can download and then share.

           OR

• You can click on the  Share button – this is the recommended option.

“Share” button:

Once you click on the Share button, a pop-up box will open, and you will be presented with two options: “Send by URL” and “Send by email”. 

Perform ONE of the following:

• In “Send by URL”, click on the Create link button. The link will be generated and displayed in the same pop-up box. Click Copy and then paste the link into your e-mail message.

Important Note: Recipients do not have to have a registered Clearing-House account to access the link and will be able to open the link without logging into the Clearing House. 

• Click on the “Send by email” tab. Enter the e-mail address(es) of the recipient(s) you wish to receive your draft document. TIP: Use commas to separate multiple email addresses. Click Send. The link will be automatically generated and included in the e-mail message. 

Important Note: Recipients must have a registered Clearing-House account with the email address(es) that you have entered, and must log into the Clearing-House in order to view the draft record.

Additional Information:

In both case, the record you share will be viewable in ‘read’ ('viewer') mode only. The link will be active for 10 days only and any updates made will be visible to the recipients until the link expires.

Please also watch the helpful video below, created in-house by the Secretariat.

(The video was recorded in the BCH. However, the ABS Clearing-House (ABSCH) functions exactly the same way!)

The record number is a part of the record unique identification (UID) code. It is a unique number that is assigned automatically to each record published in the Clearing-House and is used to uniquely distinguish records. 

UID consist of characters and codes. The record number exists near the end of the UID, just before the revision number. Example: “123456” in “BCH-DEC-FR-123456-2”.

There are two ways to search by record number:

• Use the free text search box located on the top of the Search page above Global Filters. 

Type the record number of interest and click ENTER or click on the magnifying glass. 

If your record number is referenced in other records, the results will display all records that contain that number. However, the original record will appear as the first on the list of search results.

OR

• Use the “Free Text” sub-filter:

Select a ‘Record Type’. In the “Free Text” box, type the record number and click ENTER or click on the magnifying glass. 

If your record number is referenced in other records, the results will display all records that contain that number. However, the original record will appear as the first on the list of search results.

Note: In both cases, the results always show the latest version of the record.

Please also watch the helpful video below, created in-house by the Secretariat.

(The video was recorded in the BCH. However, the ABS Clearing-House (ABSCH) functions exactly the same way!)

The Compare button is seen when you open a record on the Search page or from the summary list that is accessed through the Dashboard (when you click on the ‘list’ icon or on the record type). The purpose of this feature is to allow users to compare the current version of a record with any previous versions. The Compare button is visible only when more than one version of a record exists.

Instructions

1. Open the record through the Dashboard or in Search.
2. Click on Compare and select a version from the drop-down list.

Differences between the two versions will be highlighted. Green - means this information was added;Red(or may appear pink) - this information was deleted.

Please also watch the helpful videobelow:

(The video was recorded in the BCH. However, the ABS Clearing-House (ABSCH) functions exactly the same way!)

The  “Share” feature of the Search page allows users to share search results or a single record with others. There are three ways to share clearing-house records: by URL, by email or by embedding record(s) into another webpage. 

The Share button can be found in two distinct locations:

1. At the top-right of the main Search page: clicking on the Share button at this location allows you to share the entire search results. All global filters and sub-filters you select will be represented in the URL, email, or embed that you share.
2. At the top-right of a published record: clicking on the Share button at this location allows you to share this particular record. 

HOW TO SHARE:

Once you click on the Share button, you will be presented with a pop-up box containing three share options: “Link”, “Embed” and “Email”:

• In the “Link” option, click on the Generate link button. A link will be displayed in the same pop-up box. Click on the Copy button and paste the link where you wish to share the content. 

• In the “Email” option, type the e-mail address(es) of the recipient(s) you wish to receive the record or search results. Click Send. The link will be automatically generated and included in the e-mail message. TIP: Use commas or semi-colons to separate multiple email addresses.

• In the “Embed” option, type the domain where you intend to embed the page and click on Generate code. A script will be generated and displayed in the same pop-up box. Click on the Copy button and paste the script where you wish to embed the content. 

Please also watch helpful videos below, created in-house by the Secretariat.

(Videos were recorded in the BCH. However, the ABS Clearing-House (ABSCH) functions exactly the same way!)

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.

The private sector and research institutions using or seeking access to genetic resources will find reliable and up-to-date information on how to access genetic resources and traditional knowledge in the ABS Clearing-House in a standardized and organized manner and all in one convenient location, including national contacts and requirements. 

By providing reliable information, the ABS Clearing-House facilitates the connection between users and providers of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, and therefore creates opportunities for the development of ABS agreements.

Private sector and research institutions can contribute to the ABS Clearing-House by sharing model contractual clauses, codes of conduct, guidelines and best practices. In order to do so, it is necessary to open a CBD account. 

In principle an ABS permit is granted by the country where the genetic resources are accessed as evidence that the ABS requirements of the provider country have been met, however it is preferable to refer to the specific requirements of the provider country and the country where the genetic resources are being utilized to determine what are the procedures to follow in a particular case

To get more information on how to obtain a certificate for access to a genetic resource from the provider country, we encourage you to contact their ABS National Focal Point.  You can find the contact details of the ABS National Focal Point as well as information on the ABS legislation in the country profile: https://absch.cbd.int/countries/.

The information collected or received by the checkpoints and distributed through the checkpoint communiqués will assist Parties in monitoring how the genetic resources are used within and outside of their jurisdiction. 

The country that provided a given genetic resource will be receiving information regarding how the genetic resource is being used thanks to the information collected by the checkpoints designated around the world by each of the Parties to the Protocol. This information allows countries to determine whether the use happens according to PIC and MAT and whether the benefits are being shared as foreseen in MAT.

Countries will also be receiving the information collected by their own designated checkpoints. This means that they will receive information on how genetic resources provided by other countries are being used within their own jurisdiction. 

Receiving the latter information can assist Parties to fulfill the obligations of Article 15 that provides that each Party shall take measures to provide that genetic resources utilized within its jurisdiction have been accessed in accordance with PIC and that MAT have been established. Each Party is also obliged to address situations of non-compliance with such measures. 

Parties can identify the relevant national authorities that will receive the information obtained or collected by the checkpoints within its jurisdiction and therefore that could potentially play a role for the implementation of Article 15 (compliance with domestic legislation or regulatory requirements on ABS).The identification of these national authorities is done through the form for registering a checkpoint.

Although a country may not be Party to the Nagoya Protocol, they may have relevant domestic laws in place regarding access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge in their jurisdiction.  You will see that most non-Parties in the ABS-CH have ABS NFPs.  The ABS National Focal Point is an individual designated to liaise with the Secretariat and make information available on procedures for accessing genetic resources and establishing mutually agreed terms, including information on competent national authorities, relevant indigenous and local communities, and relevant stakeholders (Article 13.1).We suggest that you contact the ABS National Focal Point for the country in question which you can find through the country page.