Nagoya Protocol
Biodiversity convention protocol on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing; in force since 2014.
WHO's talks on a pathogen-sharing annex ended without a text for a second session running on 18 September 2026; researchers have reported slower sample sharing under the Nagoya Protocol since it took effect in 2014.
Last refreshed: 4 October 2026
Timeline for Nagoya Protocol
Mentioned in: WHO talks on pathogen sharing fail again
Pandemics and BiosecurityBackground
The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization is a treaty under the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity. It was adopted in Nagoya, Japan, on 29 October 2010 and entered into force on 12 October 2014. It had 142 parties by August 2025: 141 UN member states and the European Union.
The Nagoya Protocol makes access to genetic resources depend on sharing the benefits that flow from them. Each of its 142 parties writes its own permit rules, though the duty to share benefits binds all of them. Researchers have reported slower sharing of pathogen samples under the protocol since 2014.
Pathogen sharing has been fought over before: Indonesia stopped sharing H5N1 bird flu samples with WHO in late 2006, and the dispute produced the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework only in May 2011. WHO's Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing annex, under negotiation in 2026, addresses the same trade-off between control and speed.
WHO's annex talks fail again
WHO's talks on a Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing annex cover ground the Nagoya Protocol has governed since 12 October 2014. Nagoya made benefit-sharing binding but left permit rules to each country, and researchers have since reported slower sharing of pathogen samples. The annex is meant to set one route for sharing virus samples and genetic sequences, and for what countries receive in return, such as vaccine doses.
The eighth negotiating session closed in Geneva on 18 September 2026 without an agreed text, after the July session also failed. Nagoya's 2010 text left the same choice between control and speed to each party. The Africa Group backs a federated model of national laboratories, which gives source countries more control, while the European Union backs central databases for faster access. Until that annex is adopted, due in May 2027, the WHO Pandemic Agreement stays closed to signatures.