This article explores the paradoxical behaviour of Brazil in relation to its national and international approaches to the regulations of access to genetic resources and benefits sharing with indigenous and other traditional communities. Brazil was one of the leaders in the international negotiations that led to the UN Nagoya Protocol but only ratified it 11 years later, after remarkable transformations of its internal biodiversity laws. We suggest that the seemingly contradictory behaviour has been shaped by the country’s internal political and ideological changes. This transformation goes hand in hand with substantial changes in state–society relations, particularly with regard to the balance of coalitions’ power between indigenous groups and industrial and agrarian elites. The article builds on the literature on state transformations and relies on the Advocacy Coalition Framework to show the importance of considering the impact of national-level politics on the fate of international agreements.

本文探讨了巴西在其国家和国际方法中对获取遗传资源和与土著和其他传统社区共享惠益的监管方法的矛盾行为。巴西是导致联合国名古屋议定书的国际谈判的领导者之一，但在其内部生物多样性法律发生显着转变后，仅在 11 年后才批准该议定书。我们认为，这种看似矛盾的行为是由该国内部的政治和意识形态变化所塑造的。这种转变伴随着国家-社会关系的重大变化，特别是在土著群体与工业和农业精英之间的联盟权力平衡方面。