The Post Nagoya Protocol ABS Regime in Cameroon: Exploring the Extent to Which Ongoing Policy, Regulatory Developments and ABS Practices Uphold the Obligations of the Protocol

Abstract

AbstractIn 1995 and 2017 respectively, Cameroon ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its Nagoya Protocol (NP) on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS). Cameroon’s ratification of the NP on ABS indicates the country’s commitment to translate and operationalize its provisions in a domestic ABS regulatory framework. A process was initiated in 2013 by the Government of Cameroon (GoC) that was aimed at: (1) Adopting a ministerial order on ABS that would govern ABS negotiations on the specific case of Echinops giganteus and other emerging cases and; (2) Constructing a comprehensive NP compliant ABS policy, administrative and legal framework. This chapter looks at the progress so far in Cameroon in establishing a NP compliant ABS regulatory framework. It also discusses the newly adopted ABS law of July 2021 and the draft implementing regulations around the following issues: the scope of the regulatory framework and the proposed institutional framework; the nature of the key regulatory tools such as the prior informed consent (PIC), mutually agreed terms (MAT/ABS contracts) and benefit-sharing schemes; the approach taken by the emerging instruments to address the different facets and levels of compliance. Likewise, it discusses the extent to which the ABS instruments are compliant with the NP, highlights their strengths and weaknesses and suggests way forward in view of delivering an effective and NP compliant ABS regime.KeywordsCameroonAccess and benefit-sharingNagoya protocolRegulatory frameworkABS compliance