Five countries ratify treaty on genetic resources
Five countries namely, Bhutan, Côte D’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Indonesia and Norway have rectified the Access to Genetic Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization.
The new ratifications, which brings to a total of 25 countries, has taken a big step towards entry into force of the protocol under the umbrella of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
A statement issued in Montreal and copied to the Ghana News Agency, by Mr David Ainsworth, an Information Officer of CBD, said the five new countries brings the number to 25, half of the 50 ratifications needed for the Protocol to enter into force.
The Nagoya Protocol was adopted at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties in 2010, in Nagoya, Japan, and significantly advances the objective of the Convention on the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources by providing greater legal certainty and transparency for both providers and users of genetic resources.
It seeks to promote the use of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, and by strengthening the opportunities for fair and equitable sharing of benefits from their use, and create incentives to conserve biodiversity, it’s sustainably usage, and further, enhances the contribution of biodiversity to sustainable development and human well-being.
The five countries joined Albania, Botswana, Comoros, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Honduras, India, Jordan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mauritius, Mexico, the Federated States of Micronesia and Mongolia.
The others are, Panama, Rwanda, the Seychelles, South Africa, the Syrian Arab Republic and Tajikistan, as countries that have ratified or acceded to the landmark treaty already.
The statement said the commitment to the Protocol by countries that hold vast stores of biological diversity demonstrates the potential for access and benefit-sharing to contribute to sustainable development and increased knowledge of the value of natural resources while providing the conditions for continuous research on and development of genetic resources.
“The ratifications by Bhutan, Côte D’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Indonesia and Norway have significantly added to the momentum towards entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol in time for the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, to be hosted by the Republic of Korea in October 2014.
“We now have ratifications from all regions of the world, attesting to the broad support for this Protocol and its objective of contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity through access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits arising from their use,” it said.
Source: GNA