Biopiracy refers to the pharmaceutical companies, corporations’ utilisation and commercialisation of genetic resources that belong to the pharmacopeia of indigenous communities. It involves the practice of screening plant and other biological material for lucrative commercial purposes. To buffer for these unscrupulous practices, the legislation on “Access to Benefit Sharing” (ABS) of the Nagoya Protocol advocates that benefits derived from the utilisation of indigenous communities’ pharmacopeia exploited by companies should be equitably returned.

The presentation will unveil the intricacy of implementing Access to Benefit Sharing to local communities. In Morocco, it relates to the corporations lucrative captured Argan oil market and women working in cooperatives in a newly signed Nagoya Protocol. In India, it relates to the blurred legislation of ABS attribution related to the exploitation of Mint (Mentha arvensis L.), Mustard (Brassica nigra) and sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum) in a well-established Nagoya Protocol and Access to Benefit Sharing national legislation.