Il Protocollo di Nagoya e l'attuazione del principio di Access and Benefit Sharing con particolare riferimento all'user compliance pillar

The principle of Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) in the context of natural resources (and in particular of genetic resources) sets forth the duty for the States and the firms that wish to have access to these resources to sign an agreement with the provider (Mutually Agreed Terms - MAT) on the basis of a Previous Informed Consent - PIC. This agreement must envisage the benefits to be shared – that may be may be monetary or non-monetary – in favour of both the provider and the local or indigenous populations whose traditional knowledge is associated with genetic resources. This paper focuses on some legal issues of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing with particular reference to the duties of the users of genetic resources (‘user compliance pillar’).