Reconstructing the “biopiracy” debate from a justice perspective

In the Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) framework established by the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol,3 the main requirements are that benefits shall be granted in exchange for access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge (benefit-sharing, CBD: Art. 1 and 15.7; Nagoya Protocol: Art. 3 and 6), that prior informed consent (PIC ) shall be obtained before access (CBD: Art. 15.5; Nagoya Protocol: Art. 6), and that mutually agreed terms (MAT ) for the benefit-sharing shall be negotiated (CBD: Art. 15.4 and 15.7; Nagoya Protocol: Art. 5, 6, 7 and 18, inter alia). The ABS framework is thus based on an exchange perspective.