Study Into Criteria to Identify a Specialized International Access and Benefit-sharing Instrument, and a Possible Process for Its Recognition

The objective of this study is to explore criteria that could be used to identify what constitutes a specialized international access and benefit - shari ng (ABS) instrument in the context of Article 4(4) of the Nagoya Protocol, and what could be a possible process for recognizing such an instrument. The study was requested by the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties (COP/MOP) to the Nagoya Protocol in 2016 (decision NP - 2/5), to be considered by the Subsidiary Body on Implementation, before consideration by the Nagoya Protocol COP/MOP at its third meeting.