Chapter 11. The implementation of the Nagoya Protocol in Latin America and the Caribbean: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

This chapter identifies the main challenges and opportunities for the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol in Latin America and Caribbean countries. The initial reflection on the implementation of access and benefit-sharing (ABS) measures at the national level prior to the adoption of the Nagoya Protocol, and the current domestic legal frameworks on ABS in force in selected countries are analysed to identify the challenges and opportunities arising from the rights and obligations enshrined in the Nagoya Protocol. The chapter illustrates regional ABS instruments and then focuses on domestic instruments in the selected group of Latin American countries. It also focuses on access to genetic resources, benefit-sharing, traditional knowledge, and compliance. The legal and practical process for obtaining prior informed consent (PIC) and mutually agreed terms (MAT) for certain stakeholders, especially indigenous and local communities, remains a critical aspect for a functional ABS system in the Latin American and Caribbean countries. Keywords:access and benefit-sharing (ABS); Caribbean; genetic resources; Latin America; mutually agreed terms (MAT); Nagoya Protocol; prior informed consent (PIC); traditional knowledge