Comparative Study of the Nagoya Protocol, the Plant Treaty and the UPOV Convention: The Interface of Access and Benefit Sharing and Plant Variety Protection

This study presents the existing situation and recent developments relating to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity (Nagoya Protocol), the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Plant Treaty) and the and International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV Convention). Intellectual property rights (IPR) are an instrument for the appropriation or allocation of benefits, and it must be assessed whether plant variety protection (PVP) can be a mode of equitable or fair benefit-sharing given the obligations found in the Nagoya Protocol and Plant Treaty, and how the Nagoya Protocol and Plant Treaty can be implemented in a mutually supportive manner with the UPOV Convention.