A capacity-building activity for Southeast Asian key stakeholders was conducted to enhance their understanding of the policy, mechanisms, and implementation of the third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilisation (ABS). To assist countries in the enforcement of the Nagoya Protocol (NP), the 3rd Regional Workshop on ABS was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in December 2012.

About 60 representatives from academe/science community, lawyers/policy makers, NGOs, indigenous and local communities, industry, and ABS National Focal Points participated in the four-day workshop comprising lectures and a field visit to a research institute.

The workshop critically discussed the status and key elements of the NP, relevance of the draft ASEAN Framework Agreement on ABS, procedures for sharing of benefits and country experiences in implementing ABS policies.

The field visit demonstrated the experience of the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) in documenting selected traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources and its interface with science and policy development.

The activity provided an analysis of the international and regional guidelines on ABS, procedures of benefit sharing, ABS implementation in different countries including by an industry, and prepared the participants in developing national roadmaps towards ABS legal frameworks.