Benefit-sharing from DSI

How benefit-sharing works for the digital sequence information (DSI) in the African DSI DataBank: the genetic data read from plants, animals and microbes.

Each record shows its route

Every record says how benefit-sharing is governed for it: the provider country's national framework, or the CBD's multilateral mechanism. The institution that holds a record chooses its route, as its national framework allows; a record that isn't public always follows the national framework.

National framework (bilateral)

Most records submitted by African institutions follow the national framework of the country that provided the genetic resource. Benefit-sharing is bilateral: the provider's terms apply, such as prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms under the Nagoya Protocol, as set by the provider and its national authority. These are arranged through the third-party access and benefit-sharing (ABS) service, and records on request or restricted are only shared with the holding institution's approval.

Multilateral mechanism

For publicly available DSI that isn't subject to such terms, the CBD's decision 16/2 (2024) set up a multilateral mechanism and a global fund, the Cali Fund. It complements national frameworks; it doesn't replace them. Records mirrored from the international public archives follow it, as do public records an institution marks for it.

Under it, users in sectors that benefit commercially from DSI (for example pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, breeding and biotechnology) are expected to contribute according to their size: as an indicative rate, 1% of profits or 0.1% of revenue for entities above two of three thresholds (US$20 million in assets, US$50 million in sales, US$5 million in profits). The Parties are due to set the thresholds and rates at COP17 (October 2026). Public databases, and public research and academic institutions, are not expected to make monetary contributions.

The CBD's pages on DSI ↗ · The Cali Fund ↗

What the DataBank does and doesn't do

• It records each record's route, where it comes from (the holding institution and, where known, the country of origin) and its access tier and licence.
• It calls the third-party ABS service for both routes, and shows what the service reports. It never decides ABS questions or checks anyone's compliance.
• It doesn't collect, hold or allocate benefit-sharing money.

This page is general information, not legal advice. See also the terms of use & citation policy.