# Landrace hunting or biopiracy? Benefit-sharing, consent and cannabis

> International law says a country owns rights over its genetic resources: under the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) and the Nagoya Protocol (in force 2014), anyone taking plant material for breeding or research needs prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms, including benefit-sharing. Cannabis falls through the cracks: it isn't in the Plant Treaty's crop list, it's still a Schedule I drug under the 1961 Single Convention, most seed was collected before these rules existed, and the US and Canada aren't Nagoya parties. Turmeric, neem, hoodia and rooibos show what credit and compensation look like when they're taken seriously. GenetixBay's position: credit the source region and community on every record, document provenance honestly with evidence levels, encourage benefit-sharing and fair practice, and reward returning value to source communities.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/genetics-history/landrace-hunting-and-biopiracy.html
- Category: Genetics history · Level: Intermediate
- Evidence: Supported · Status: Draft: awaiting expert review (some figures are being checked)
- Stage: Any stage · Systems: Any system
- Updated: 2026-10-31 · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), attribute "GenetixBay Knowledge Base (genetixbay.com/knowledge)"

## Questions and answers

**What is [biopiracy](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/biopiracy.md) in cannabis?** Biopiracy in cannabis means taking seed or the traditional knowledge attached to it, then commercialising or patenting the result without consent from, credit to or benefit for the source community and country. It has no single legal definition. Two wrongs often travel together: taking without permission, an access problem, and claiming as new what farmers already bred, a patent and credit problem.

**Is collecting [landrace](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/landrace.md) seed biopiracy?** Collecting landrace seed is not automatically biopiracy, but collecting it without the source country's permission, the community's informed consent or any share of the benefits is what the term describes. Drug law is a separate question: cannabis collection has been technically illegal in most source countries for decades, which covers nearly every landrace in circulation. GenetixBay's position is to credit the source region and community, document provenance honestly and reward returning value to them.

**Does the [Nagoya Protocol](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/nagoya-protocol.md) apply to cannabis?** The Nagoya Protocol applies only partly to cannabis in practice. It requires [prior informed consent](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/prior-informed-consent.md) and [benefit-sharing](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/benefit-sharing.md) for [genetic resources](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/germplasm.md) used in breeding or research, but most cannabis seed in circulation was collected before the Convention on Biological Diversity took effect in 1993, old widespread varieties are generally treated as out of scope, and the US and Canada are not parties.

**What is prior informed consent and benefit-sharing?** Prior informed consent means getting permission from the provider country, and for traditional knowledge the community, before collecting, with full disclosure of how the material will be used. Benefit-sharing means returning a fair share of what results, such as payments, royalties or seed, on mutually agreed terms set in writing. Both come from the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol.

**Is Canada or the US a party to the Nagoya Protocol?** Neither Canada nor the United States is a party to the Nagoya Protocol, so no user-country compliance checks apply there. Canada ratified the underlying Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992, while the US signed it in 1993 but never ratified. As of October 2026 the Protocol had 143 parties, including the EU, India, South Africa, Mexico and Morocco.

**Is cannabis covered by the Plant Treaty (ITPGRFA)?** Cannabis is not covered by the Plant Treaty (ITPGRFA). The treaty's Multilateral System shares 64 food and forage crops listed in its Annex I under a standard transfer agreement, and cannabis is not on that list. That means its ready-made exchange and benefit-sharing system does not apply, leaving cannabis to national access laws and drug laws.

**What is the Cali Fund?** The Cali Fund is a global fund, launched in February 2025 under a 2024 biodiversity convention decision, for sharing benefits from digital sequence information such as published genome data. Large users are expected to pay an indicative 1% of profits or 0.1% of revenue, with at least half going to Indigenous peoples and local communities. Payment is voluntary, and by August 2026 contributions totalled only US$6,000.

**How should landrace seed be collected ethically?** Collect landrace seed ethically by getting any national access permit or licence that exists, then the community's prior informed consent in their language. Put mutually agreed terms in writing, credit the region, community and farmers by name, compensate them, share seed back, and document place, date, collector and seed numbers. Never patent what you collected.

**Should source communities be paid for landrace genetics?** Source communities should be paid for landrace genetics, in GenetixBay's view, whether or not a treaty requires it. The farmers who selected landraces over centuries deserve credit and compensation. Precedents from other plants show it can work: a 2003 hoodia agreement gave San communities 6% of royalties, and a 2019 rooibos deal set a 1.5% farm-gate levy for Khoi and San communities.

**Short answer.** Collecting seed from farmers and selling the descendants isn't automatically biopiracy, but doing it without the source country's permission, the community's consent or any share of the benefits is what the term means. Since the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992), countries hold sovereign rights over their genetic resources, and the Nagoya Protocol (in force 2014) spells out the rules: **prior informed consent**, **mutually agreed terms** and **fair benefit-sharing** [1][2]. Cannabis mostly slips past them: it isn't on the Plant Treaty's crop list [3], it remains a [Schedule I](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/scheduling.md) drug [7][8], most seed in circulation was collected before these rules existed, and neither the US nor Canada is a Nagoya party [1][2]. The law hasn't caught up. Practice can.

> **House position (founder's view): a strong yes on benefit-sharing.** The farmers who selected the world's landraces over centuries deserve credit and compensation, and anyone collecting from them should do it with consent. That's a value, not a legal summary: as below, the law often doesn't require it for cannabis. We think it should be done anyway.

## What "biopiracy" means

There's no single legal definition. In policy use it means taking genetic resources or the traditional knowledge attached to them, then commercialising or patenting the result, without consent from, credit to or benefit for the people and country they came from. Two separate wrongs often travel together: **taking without permission** (an access problem) and **claiming as new what a community already knew or bred** (a patent and credit problem).

## The rules, in one table

| Instrument | What it does | Who's in (as of October 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| **Convention on Biological Diversity** (1992; in force 29 December 1993) [1] | States have sovereign rights over their genetic resources. Access needs the provider country's **prior informed consent** (Art. 15(5)) on **mutually agreed terms** (Art. 15(4)), with fair sharing of benefits. Art. 8(j) protects Indigenous and local communities' traditional knowledge | **196 Parties.** The **US signed (1993) but never ratified.** Canada ratified in 1992 |
| **Nagoya Protocol** (adopted 2010; in force 12 October 2014) [2] | Makes [CBD](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/cbd.md) access and benefit-sharing (ABS) operational: benefit-sharing (Art. 5), PIC (Art. 6), community consent for traditional knowledge (Art. 7), user-country compliance checks (Arts. 15-17). "Utilisation" means research and development on a resource's genetic or biochemical make-up; breeding counts | **143 Parties.** In: EU, India, South Africa, Mexico, Pakistan (2016), Lebanon (2018), Afghanistan (2018), Nepal (2019), Morocco (2022). **Not in: US, Canada, Jamaica.** Colombia and Thailand signed but haven't ratified |
| **EU Regulation 511/2014** [6] | Users in the EU must exercise due diligence that genetic resources they use were accessed legally under the provider's ABS law | EU member states |
| **Plant Treaty (ITPGRFA)** (2001; in force 2004) [3] | A shared pool for 64 food and forage crops (Annex I) under a standard transfer agreement | **Cannabis is not in Annex I**, so the Treaty's ready-made system doesn't cover it |
| **CBD Decision 16/2 and the Cali Fund** (COP16, 2 November 2024; fund launched 25 February 2025) [4] | A global fund for benefits from **digital sequence information** (genome data). Large users are expected to pay an indicative **1 % of profits or 0.1 % of revenue**; **at least 50 %** goes to Indigenous peoples and local communities [4][5] | Voluntary. By August 2026 it had **two confirmed contributions totalling US$6,000**, against an expected US$1 billion a year [5] |
| **WIPO treaty on IP, genetic resources and traditional knowledge** (adopted 24 May 2024) [16] | Patent applicants must disclose the origin of genetic resources or traditional knowledge an invention is based on | Not yet in force: it needs 15 ratifications. |

## Why cannabis falls through the cracks

1. **It's still a controlled drug.** Cannabis and cannabis resin remain in **Schedule I** of the [1961 Single Convention](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/single-convention-1961.md); the 2020 vote only removed them from Schedule IV (27 votes to 25, one abstention) [7][8]. An ABS permit doesn't make an export legal, and drug law doesn't grant access rights. Collecting and moving cannabis material lawfully needs both, and in most source countries the drug-law side has been closed for decades, so nearly every landrace in circulation was technically collected outside the law. The treaty definition of "cannabis" excludes seeds not accompanied by the tops [7], but national laws on seed vary widely. Check local rules before collecting, carrying or importing any plant material.
2. **Most seed was collected before the rules.** The bulk of "landrace" seed in Western catalogues was gathered on travels in the 1960s to 1980s, before the CBD's 1993 entry into force. ABS law is generally not applied retroactively, and the CBD's start date is commonly treated as the threshold [9]. Whether later breeding of old collections counts as new utilisation is debated.
3. **Widespread material may be out of scope.** Analysts of the coffee sector note that old, globally disseminated varieties are generally treated as outside Nagoya's reach [9]. [Heirloom](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/heirloom.md) cannabis lines grown worldwide for decades are in the same position.
4. **Big user countries aren't bound.** The US isn't a CBD party and neither the US nor Canada has joined Nagoya [1][2], so no user-country compliance check applies there.
5. **Genome data moves freely.** Landrace sequences in public databases are digital sequence information. The Cali Fund exists for exactly this, but payment is voluntary and, so far, close to nil [4][5].

## Source countries: a snapshot

| Country | What applies | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| **Morocco** | Law 13-21 (2021) allows medical and industrial cannabis under a state regulator (ANRAC); non-medical products above 1 % THC barred [14]. Nagoya Party since 2022 [2] | In 2024 the regulator approved the local variety, **Beldia**, for licensed cooperatives; it made up **2,786 of 4,082 tonnes** of the 2024 legal harvest [15]. A source country putting its own landrace first |
| **India** | Biological Diversity Act 2002 (amended 2023): foreign users need national approval to access biological resources and associated knowledge. Nagoya Party [2] | |
| **South Africa** | Biodiversity Act 2004, Chapter 6, and the Bioprospecting, Access and Benefit-Sharing Regulations (2008). Nagoya Party [2] | The legal home of the hoodia and rooibos agreements below [12][13] |
| **Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Lebanon** | Nagoya Parties since 2016-2019 [2] | Drug law makes lawful collection of cannabis material effectively impossible |
| **Colombia, Jamaica, Thailand** | CBD Parties, not Nagoya Parties [1][2]; each has a licensed cannabis regime | |

## Precedents: what credit and compensation look like

None of these are cannabis, but they are the public cases the field learned from.

| Case | What happened |
|---|---|
| **Turmeric** | A 1995 US patent (5,401,504) claimed turmeric for wound healing. India's Council of Scientific and Industrial Research challenged it with prior art including a 1953 Indian medical journal paper; the US Patent Office rejected all claims in 1997 [10] |
| **[Neem](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/neem-oil.md)** | A European patent on a neem-oil fungicide was revoked in 2000 after opposition; the Board of Appeal dismissed the appeal in 2005 for lack of inventive step [11] |
| **Hoodia** | After an appetite-suppressant compound from hoodia, long used by San people, was patented and licensed without them, a 2003 agreement gave San communities **6 % of royalties and 8 % of milestone payments**, paid into a trust [12] |
| **Rooibos** | A 2019 agreement under South Africa's ABS rules requires processors to pay a levy of **1.5 % of the farm-gate price** to Khoi and San communities for their traditional knowledge, estimated at about R12 million a year [13] |

The lesson: patents on traditional knowledge can be beaten with documented prior art, and benefit-sharing works when it's written into law and contracts.

## The cannabis practices

Described as practices, because that's what the record supports:

- **Seed collected on travels and sold as "landrace"** decades later, after generations of selection and sometimes crossing elsewhere. That's an heirloom, not a landrace, and the farmers are rarely named (see [landraces of the world](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/genetics-history/landraces-of-the-world.md), especially its *Credit where it's due* section).
- **Country names as marketing.** A region in a name is a claim, not provenance.
- **Protection filed on landrace-derived material.** [Plant patents](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/plant-patent.md), [utility patents](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/utility-patent.md) and [breeders' rights](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/plant-variety-protection.md) can cover lines and traits whose roots are farmer selections; all are public records (see [patents and the gene pool](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/genetics-history/patents-and-the-gene-pool.md)).
- **Erosion at source.** While collected seed is sold abroad, the domesticates at home are endangered by hybrid replacement [17]. Taking without giving back speeds the loss.

## What fair practice looks like

1. **Know the law.** Where a national ABS permit or drug-law licence is available, get it. Because cannabis collection has been technically illegal almost everywhere, legality alone can't be the test of fair practice; consent, credit and returning value are. GenetixBay doesn't advise anyone to break the law where they live.
2. **Prior informed consent** from the community, in their language, before collecting, including what the material will be used for and whether it may be sold or protected.
3. **Mutually agreed terms in writing:** what is shared, how much, for how long.
4. **Credit by name:** region, community and, where they wish, the farmers. Not "Asian landrace", but the valley and the people.
5. **Compensation:** a share of seed sales, a fixed payment, or funding the community wants, such as a community [seed bank](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/seed-bank.md).
6. **Share seed back.** Return seed and records to the community and to public [gene](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/gene.md) banks where legal, so a collection doesn't become the only copy.
7. **Document everything:** collection place and date, collector, number of seeds or plants, permits, and how the line has been maintained since.
8. **Don't patent what you collected.** Prior art belongs to the people who bred it.

## GenetixBay's position

We don't gatekeep the archive on how seed was collected decades ago: cannabis collection has been technically illegal almost everywhere for generations, so that test would erase nearly every landrace. What we ask for instead is credit and honesty.

- **Credit the source on every record.** Landrace populations get their own record type (GB-LRC) with region of origin, keeper or custodian, collection history and evidence level, and every line descended from one carries the **source region and community credit** forward.
- **Document provenance honestly.** Collection place and date, collector and maintenance history are evidence-graded claims (L0-L4; see [documenting lineage evidence](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/breeding/documenting-lineage-evidence.md)). Unknown stays unknown; we label collected-and-maintained lines as heirloom, not landrace.
- **Encourage benefit-sharing and fair practice.** Consent, written terms, compensation and sharing seed back are the standard we promote, whether or not a treaty forces it.
- **Reward returning value.** Breeders and members who return seed, records or money to source communities earn recognition on the platform for it.

## Common mistakes

- "It was legal to buy, so it's ethical." Access law, drug law and ethics are three different questions.
- "Nagoya doesn't apply, so nothing is owed." The law is a floor.
- "Old seed is fair game." It may be outside the law; the credit is still owed.
- Encouraging anyone to smuggle seed. Never.

## Evidence

- CBD and Nagoya obligations (PIC, MAT, benefit-sharing) and party status: *Established* (treaty texts and official lists) [1][2].
- Cannabis absent from Plant Treaty Annex I: *Established* [3].
- Cannabis in Schedule I of the 1961 Convention: *Established* [7][8].
- Cali Fund rates, voluntary status and low uptake: *Established* for the decision [4]; *Supported* for uptake (press report) [5].
- Pre-CBD and widespread material falling outside ABS: *Supported*, with legal debate [9].
- Turmeric, neem, hoodia and rooibos outcomes: *Established* (public decisions and agreements) [10]-[13].
- Morocco's Beldia programme: *Supported* (press reports of regulator data) [14][15].
- Source communities deserve credit and compensation beyond what the law requires: founder's view.

## Sources

1. Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992 (Articles 8(j) and 15), and list of Parties. Secretariat of the CBD. https://www.cbd.int/information/parties.shtml
2. Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization, 2010 (in force 12 October 2014): text and signatories/Parties list. Secretariat of the CBD. https://www.cbd.int/abs/nagoya-protocol/signatories
3. International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, 2001, Annex I (crops covered under the Multilateral System). FAO. https://www.fao.org/plant-treaty/en/
4. UNDP Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office. 25 February 2025. Press release: The Cali Fund launches in the margins of the resumed session of COP16. https://mptf.undp.org/news/press-release-cali-fund-launches-margins-resumed-session-cop16
5. Mbenywe M. 1 September 2026. UN fund for sharing biodiversity benefits struggles for attention and money. Mongabay. https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/un-fund-for-sharing-biodiversity-benefits-struggles-for-attention-and-money/
6. Regulation (EU) No 511/2014 on compliance measures for users from the Nagoya Protocol in the Union. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2014/511/oj
7. Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, as amended by the 1972 Protocol (Article 1(1)(b), Articles 23 and 28). UNODC. https://www.unodc.org/pdf/convention_1961_en.pdf
8. UNODC. 3 December 2020. CND votes on recommendations for cannabis and cannabis-related substances. https://unodc.org/unodc/frontpage/2020/December/cnd-votes-on-recommendations-for-cannabis-and-cannabis-related-substances.html
9. Lachenmeier DW, Montagnon C. 2024. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nagoya Protocol: implications and compliance strategies for the global coffee community. Foods 13(2):254. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13020254
10. Down To Earth. That's an old remedy (on the revocation of US Patent 5,401,504, turmeric for wound healing, after a CSIR challenge, 1997). https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/thats-an-old-remedy-26452
11. European Patent Office, Technical Board of Appeal. Decision T 0416/01, 8 March 2005 (neem oil fungicide; appeal dismissed). https://www.epo.org/en/boards-of-appeal/decisions/t010416eu1
12. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 2003. 81(5):382. San people and CSIR sign hoodia benefit-sharing agreement (news item). https://scielosp.org/article/bwho/2003.v81n5/382-382
13. TimesLive. 2 November 2019. Khoi and San sign deal that gives them a cut of rooibos riches. https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2019-11-02-khoi-and-san-sign-deal-that-gives-them-a-cut-of-rooibos-riches/
14. CMS. Expert guide to a legal roadmap to cannabis: Morocco (Law No. 13-21 on the legal uses of cannabis). https://cms.law/en/int/expert-guides/cms-expert-guide-to-a-legal-roadmap-to-cannabis/morocco
15. North Africa Post. 27 December 2024. Morocco's 2024 legal cannabis harvest rises to over 4000 tons (ANRAC annual review). https://northafricapost.com/?p=83076
16. WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (adopted 24 May 2024): notification of ratification by Peru. https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/treaties/notifications/details/treaty_gratk_4
17. McPartland JM, Small E. 2020. A classification of endangered high-THC cannabis (Cannabis sativa subsp. indica) domesticates and their wild relatives. PhytoKeys 144:81-112. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.144.46700