Canada:
New Biodiversity Treaty In Effect This Week
14 October 2014
by
Siskinds LLP
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Fair sharing of biodiversity: The Nagoya Protocol on Access
to Genetic Resources and the Fair Equitable Sharing of Benefits
Arising from their Utilization, under the United Nations
Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), enters into force this week. The
Protocol is an international environmental agreement intended
to ensure that those, who share access to genetic resources and
associated traditional and aboriginal knowledge, benefit fairly
from their use. 51 countries have ratified the Protocol to
date.
Canada, with its large aboriginal population, has neither signed
nor ratified this Protocol.
The fair and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic
resources is one of the three main objectives of the Convention on
Biodiversity. The other two are the conservation of biological
diversity and the sustainable use of its environmental components.-
See the United Nations Environmental Program's announcement here.
Fair and equitable sharing of benefits is to be achieved through
benefit sharing agreements much like those that have been developed
for mining and similar resource projects. They are to feature full
disclosure and prior informed consent.
The full text of the Nagoya Protocol is available at: www.cbd.int/abs/doc/protocol/nagoya-protocol-en.pdf.
The list of signatories of the Nagoya Protocol is available at: www.cbd.int/abs/nagoya-protocol/signatories.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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