Background and objectives
The entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol and of the implementing regional and national legislations mark a significant shift in the provisions that influence the day-to-day business activities and research and development endeavours of users of genetic resources. The applicable strict compliance obligations in the context of the wider international access and benefit-sharing regime will pose new challenges for users and influence their innovation strategies and capacity. This seminar seeks to address these challenges and offer an integrated view on compliance and innovation, therefore covering both the legal aspects of access and benefit-sharing and of intellectual property rights, from a hands-on and user’s perspective.
The seminar will be organized by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) in cooperation with the University of Life Sciences and Natural Resources (BOKU). BOKU has been a Centre of Excellence in the training program of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the seminar is organised in the context of that program. AGES is a working partner of the International Treaty’s Platform for Co-development and Transfer of Technology and contributes a practical perspective to the seminar from this vantage point.

Seminar topics:

• Intellectual property rights (IPR) management and compliance provisions under the new Access and benefit-sharing (ABS) regime for genetic resources
• What you should know as genetic resources users.
• How to comply with the new ABS provisions while protecting your IPRs.