Published at December, 14 2020

Updated on September, 16 2025

Estimated read time: 8 minutes

Access and benefit-sharing arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge (ABS)

  • Biodiversité et paysages

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The regulation on access and benefit-sharing arising from the use of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge (ABS) governs the relationships between providers and users of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. Who does it concern in France ? What is its scope? What are the steps to follow?

ABS : what are we talking about?

The Nagoya Protocol and its transposition into French law

Adopted in 2010, the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS) entered into force on 12 October 2014. This protocol establishes an international legal framework based on three components :

  • Access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge (TK) for the purpose of their utilization : States may decide to make such access subject to their prior informed consent or that of the traditional communities concerned;
  • Benefit-sharing : This must be fair and equitable and is subject to terms mutually agreed between the user and the provider country or the traditional community concerned;
  • Compliance : States Parties must adopt measures to ensure that access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge used under their jurisdiction complies with the domestic access and benefit-sharing regulations of the provider countries.

The law of 8 August 2016 for the recovery of biodiversity, nature and landscapes (french) enabled France to ratify the Nagoya Protocol and put in place measures that address these three pillars. Thus, a national system for access and sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge (ABS system - APA in French) was established.

Why does France regulate access to its genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge? 

France boasts a rich biodiversity that needs to be preserved. The genetic resources offered by this biodiversity are at the heart of research and development activities in many fields. Through the sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources, ABS regulations in France aim to make the development of these activities a lever for the preservation of biodiversity and sustainable development in the territories from which the resources originate.

Obtaining prior informed consent for access to genetic resources also helps to promote conditions of access and use that respect biodiversity.

Moreover, in the French overseas territories, communities of inhabitants hold traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources. The ABS system also ensures that the use of these resources is preceded by the prior consent of the local communities concerned, and by mutual agreement on the sharing of benefits with the user, to the direct benefit of these communities.

The ABS system also helps to improve legal certainty between provider and user, and to enhance traceability of resources and transparency of use. It thus offers more favorable conditions for the development of projects that make sustainable use of genetic resources and play an active role in preserving biodiversity and promoting sustainable development.

Contact of the competent national authority (CNA)

Ministère de la transition écologique, de la biodiversité, de la forêt, de la mer et de la pêche
Direction générale de l’aménagement, du logement et de la nature
Direction de l’eau et de la biodiversité
Sous-direction de la protection et de la restauration des écosystèmes terrestres
Bureau de l’encadrement des impacts sur la biodiversité - Mission APA
1, place Carpeaux - 92055 LA DEFENSE CEDEX
FRANCE

ABS regulations


International level


European level


National level


French Polynesia and New Caledonia

Implementation of the ABS scheme in France

Who in France is covered by the national ABS scheme?

The national ABS scheme covers mainland France and its overseas territories. It does not apply to French Polynesia and New Caledonia, which have developed their own regulations in line with their status and jurisdiction.

Users

A user is a natural or legal person, French or foreign, working for the public or private sector, who makes use of genetic resources or traditional knowledge associated with these genetic resources.

The utilization of genetic resources is defined as research and development activities on the genetic or biochemical composition of genetic resources, in particular through the application of biotechnology, as well as the valorization of these genetic resources, and the applications and commercialization which derive from them.
The use of associated traditional knowledge corresponds to its study and valorization (e.g.: valorization of knowledge relating to the medicinal properties of a plant held by a community of inhabitants).

Suppliers

Two categories of suppliers have been identified:

  • the French State, for genetic resources under national sovereignty;
  • the communities of inhabitants of French Guiana and Wallis and Futuna, for the associated traditional knowledge they hold.

Organization of the ABS system in France

The ABS system in France comprises :

  • a general regime for wild genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge
  • specific regimes for:
    - genetic resources from related wild plant species
    - genetic resources from domesticated or cultivated species
    - genetic resources from forestry
    - genetic resources collected by laboratories for the prevention, monitoring and control of animal, plant and food safety hazards
    - genetic resources collected by laboratories for the prevention and control of serious risks to human health

What is not covered by the French ABS system

  • Human genetic resources
  • Resources collected outside national territory and areas under French sovereignty or jurisdiction
  • Genetic resources covered by specialized international access and benefit-sharing instruments, such as the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA)
  • Genetic resources of species used as models in research and development (e.g. laboratory rats). The cases covered by this exclusion are specified in the Order of September 3, 2019 on model species
  • Genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge used to safeguard national defense and security interests
  • Certain associated traditional knowledge (e.g. that which cannot be attributed to one or more communities of inhabitants, or whose properties are well known and have been used for a long time and repeatedly outside the communities of inhabitants who share them) as well as the exchange and use for non-commercial purposes of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge within and between communities of inhabitants

Regime applicable to microorganisms

When placed in a culture medium (or growth medium) after being collected, microorganisms from France are considered in the scope of the scheme applicable to cultivated species. Under this regime, there is no ABS procedure to be performed.

Experimentation relating to micro-organisms in mainland France between August 30, 2019 and August 30, 2022: micro-organisms in mainland France were excluded from the general ABS regime for a period of three years as part of an experiment defined by article 129 of law no. 2019-486 of May 22, 2019 relating to the growth and transformation of businesses. This experiment has now been completed, and an assessment has been drawn up (available in the link below).

Assessment of the experiment aimed at exempting the use of microorganisms from the ABS system in mainland France (french)

Procedures to follow under the general ABS system

1. To use French genetic resources without a direct commercial development objective (e.g., basic research project, R&D phase aimed at determining the properties of certain molecules, etc.), an ABS declaration must be filed with the Ministry of Environment (contact : apa@developpement-durable.gouv.fr) via:

Or

2. To use French genetic resources with a direct commercial development objective, an application for ABS authorization must be submitted to the Ministry of Environment via:

Or

2. To use French genetic resources with a direct commercial development objective, an application for ABS authorization must be submitted to the Ministry of Environment via:

OR

    Teleprocedure :

Application for authorization as a legal entity (french)

Application for authorization as an individual(french)

3. To access traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, a request for authorization must be submitted to the Ministry of Environment via: 

These three distinct procedures are described on the International ABS Clearinghouse.

The obligation of due diligence arising from European rules on compliance with the Nagoya Protocol

In application of the “compliance” component of the Nagoya Protocol, European Regulation 511/2014 and its implementing regulation 2015/1866 aim to ensure that access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge used within the European Union is carried out in accordance with the domestic ABS regulations of the countries providing these resources. These regulations establish a due diligence obligation on the part of users, as well as a mechanism of control points at the stage of external financing of projects on the one hand, and at the stage of final product development on the other. These require users to file a declaration with the competent national authorities attesting that they have exercised due diligence.

At the final product development stage, the competent authority is the Ministry of the Environment.

At the research project funding stage, the competent authority is the Ministry of Research. The Ministry is also responsible for applications for inclusion of a French collection in the European Register of Collections.

The due diligence declaration must be made on the DECLARE platform set up by the European Commission.


ABS Documentation

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