Nagoya Protocol & Access-Benefit-Sharing

Why this matters

VELDT & VEIN's range draws on indigenous botanicals of southern Africa, including rooibos (Aspalathus linearis), honeybush (Cyclopia spp.), marula (Sclerocarya birrea), aloe ferox, baobab (Adansonia digitata), devil's claw (Harpagophytum procumbens), and fynbos species. Several of these botanicals carry centuries of indigenous traditional knowledge — knowledge that belongs to specific communities, and that international and national law obliges us to recognise.

The legal framework

Several frameworks govern access to and use of indigenous biological resources. Where they apply to our supply chain, we comply.

• The Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) and the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Utilization (2010). Singapore acceded to the Nagoya Protocol in 2024.
• South Africa's National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) and its Bio-Prospecting, Access and Benefit-Sharing Regulations.
• Namibia's Access to Biological and Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge Act, 2017 ("ABTK Act").
• The 2019 Rooibos Benefit-Sharing Agreement, signed by the South African government and the National Khoi and San Council, formally recognising the San and Khoi peoples as holders of the traditional knowledge associated with rooibos.
• The honeybush ABS framework, currently being finalised by the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.

Our commitments

1. We acquire indigenous botanical raw materials only from suppliers who warrant in writing that they hold all necessary permits in the country of origin (for example, NEMBA bioprospecting permits in South Africa; ABTK Act permits in Namibia) and a compliant benefit-sharing agreement with the relevant indigenous community or competent authority where required.
2. For rooibos and honeybush specifically, we source from suppliers operating under the framework of the Rooibos Benefit-Sharing Agreement and the honeybush ABS framework.
3. For marula, our oil is sourced through channels connected to the Eudafano Women's Cooperative and PhytoTrade Africa-aligned producers, who operate under BioTrade Principles and Criteria and benefit-sharing arrangements recognised by the Namibian government.
4. We acknowledge the traditional knowledge of the San, Khoi, Aawambo, Damara, and other indigenous communities of southern Africa, whose stewardship and traditional use have made these botanicals available to the global market.
5. We commit to transparent benefit-sharing. We support the levies and royalties that flow through our supplier chain to the relevant benefit-sharing trusts and cooperatives.

Current status

We are in the process of formalising direct ABS arrangements with cooperatives where our supplier chain permits direct relationships, in addition to the indirect coverage we receive through our raw-material suppliers. In the interim, we source only through intermediaries who hold compliant agreements and who pass through the relevant benefit-sharing levies.

We do not at this time make any product whose ABS status we cannot reasonably verify through our supplier documentation. Where we have suspended use of a botanical pending verification, we say so on the relevant ingredient page.

Indigenous knowledge attribution

Where the use of an ingredient in our products is based on traditional indigenous knowledge, we acknowledge the holder community on the relevant ingredient page and in our journal. This includes, in particular:

• The San and Khoi peoples, in connection with rooibos.
• The San peoples, in connection with several Cape Floral Kingdom and Kalahari botanicals.
• The Aawambo peoples of northern Namibia, in connection with marula.

Documentation

For verifiable ABS documentation requests from regulators, retailers, journalists, or members of the public, contact [email protected]. We will share what our supplier agreements permit us to share.

What we will not do

• We will not source any indigenous botanical without verifiable ABS coverage.
• We will not file patents on the use of indigenous botanicals where the use derives from traditional knowledge.
• We will not represent indigenous communities or persons in our marketing imagery without their consent and benefit-sharing.

A note on this page

This statement is written carefully because the consequences of overclaiming are serious — both for the communities involved and for our brand. We will update it as our direct ABS relationships formalise and as the honeybush framework is finalised.