India Lays the Cornerstone of Biodiversity Access and Benefit Sharing System

The very first Internationally Recognized Certificate of Compliance (IRCC) has been issued by India on 1 October 2015, which is a major step towards making the Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit sharing operational. According to the Nagoya Protocol under Convention on Biological Diversity, all parties must recognize the biodiversity access permits with an IRCC as evidence of acquisition in accordance with applicable domestic law and rules. By this action, India had taken a giant leap and had left a mark in the history of biodiversity governance. Following this, until 24 April 2016 more IRCCs have been issued by India.