How to make benefit-sharing possible: the absence of a disclosure of origin system under the BBNJ agreement and the way forward

The entry into force of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement institutionalizes benefit-sharing for marine genetic resources from the high seas. However, the Agreement fails to establish an obligation to disclose the origin of such resources, constituting a fundamental gap in the implementation chain of benefit-sharing. This study employs a doctrinal legal analysis combined with comparative institutional review to examine how this lacuna undermines the enforceability of the entire benefit-sharing mechanism. Results indicate that the absence of a disclosure-of-origin system not only deprives monetary benefit-sharing of a measurable basis and renders non-monetary benefit-sharing a mere formality due to information asymmetries, but also reflects a deeper causal tension: strategic bargaining dynamics between developed and developing countries, and a jurisprudential conflict between the equitable values underlying benefit-sharing and the privatization logic of intellectual property rights. Comparative analysis of governance practices under the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Nagoya Protocol reveals that the absence of a disclosure-of-origin requirement has generated comparable implementation challenges. These findings suggest that a multi-pronged approach—encompassing technological traceability, institutional alignment through mandatory disclosure rules at both international and domestic levels, and reinforced multilateral governance—would help align the benefit-sharing system with the intellectual property regime, thereby advancing the BBNJ Agreement's goals of fairness, justice, and sustainable use of the marine commons.