Third meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-Sharing ABSWG 314 - 18 February 2005 - Bangkok, ThailandBackgroundOne of the three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity is the "fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources. . . " Following the work of the Panel of Experts on Access and Benefit-sharing, the Conference of the Parties established an Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing to develop guidelines and other approaches which would deal with the following elements of Access and Benefit-sharing:
 | terms for prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms; |
| roles, responsibilities and participation of stakeholders; |
| relevant aspects relating to in situ and ex situ conservation and sustainable use; |
| mechanisms for benefit-sharing, for example through technology transfer and joint research and development; |
| means to ensure the respect, preservation and maintenance of knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking into account work by the World Intellectual Property Organization on intellectual property rights issues. |
A major achievement was the adoption of the Bonn guidelines on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from their utilization. Following this, at its seventh meeting, the Conference of the Parties decided to mandate the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing, at its third meeting to begin the negotiations for an international regime on access and benefit-sharing and agreed on the terms of reference for such negotiation, including the process, nature, scope and elements for consideration in the elaboration of the regime.
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