The Nagoya Protocol, adopted in 2010 under the Convention on Biological Diversity and in force since 2014, governs Access and Benefit Sharing of genetic resources. It legally requires companies and researchers who commercially exploit biological resources — plants, microbes, traditional knowledge — to share profits with the source country and local communities. India ratified the Protocol and enacted the Biological Diversity Act 2002, administered by the National Biodiversity Authority, as its domestic compliance mechanism.

Before the Nagoya Protocol, biodiversity-rich developing nations faced systematic 'biopiracy' — foreign corporations extracted genetic resources and traditional knowledge, patented them, and returned nothing to the communities that preserved them for generations. The Protocol closed this gap by creating a legally binding Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) framework under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Three pillars hold up the Protocol:
1. Access: Users must obtain Prior Informed Consent (PIC) from the provider country before accessing genetic resources.
2. Benefit Sharing: Users must negotiate Mutually Agreed Terms (MAT) specifying how monetary benefits (royalties, licensing fees) and non-monetary benefits (technology transfer, capacity building) will be shared.
3. Compliance: An ABS Clearing-House mechanism tracks transactions; the Nagoya Protocol Information Sharing System (NPIS) is the global database.

India's Implementation: The Biological Diversity Act 2002 is the domestic law. The three-tier structure is: National Biodiversity Authority (NBA, Chennai) → State Biodiversity Boards → Biodiversity Management Committees at local body level. The NBA must approve access by foreign entities; State Boards regulate Indian commercial users; BMCs maintain People's Biodiversity Registers documenting local biological resources and traditional knowledge.

Who benefits: Local communities and gram sabhas receive a share of commercial benefits routed through the State Biodiversity Fund. This directly connects biodiversity conservation to rural livelihoods — an angle NABARD exams consistently test.