Nagoya Protocol to Take Effect on October 12

* Conference of Parties of the 12th Convention on Biodiversity

On September 14, 2014, Uruguay became the 50th country to deposit the ratification of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization with the United Nations. Accordingly, the required number of ratifications for the Protocol to come into force has been met, and the Protocol will take effect on October 12.

The Nagoya Protocol was adopted by the 10th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity held in Nagoya, Japan in October 2010. The Protocol purports to ensure access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization. It is an international norm for the effective implementation of the third objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity: “fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources.”

*Genetic resources refer to any material of plant, animal, microbial or other origin containing functional units of heredity.

With the Nagoya Protocol in force, a party to the Protocol, if it wants to use another party’s genetic resources, should implement the obligation to inform the concerned party of such an intention, to undergo the approval process, and ensure appropriate sharing of benefits.

In line with the effectuation of the Nagoya Protocol, the 12th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity will be held in Pyeongchang, Korea from September 29 through October 17, 2014. During the period, the first Meeting of the Conference of Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol will be held from October 13 through 17 in the same place.