ContractAccess and Benefit Sharing Agreement • April 19th, 2008
Natura, a Brazilian Company that produces cosmetics, personal hygiene and perfume products, made use of the tradi- tional knowledge of the Ver-as-Ervas women. The Ver-as-Ervas women initiated an administrative procedure before the compe- tent authority, in order to claim benefits associated with the use of the knowledge they supplied. This agreement has been signed by Natura and the Ver-as-Ervas, but has not yet been approved by the Genetic Patrimony Management Council (CGEN) of the Environment Ministry, due to the complexity of the issue and lack of clear legal guidance on access and benefit sharing associated with traditional knowledge (CBD, 2008).