EU/UN/BIODIVERSITY : EU ADOPTS TOOL TO TACKLE BIOPIRACY.

Parliament green-lights the Union's ratification of the Nagoya Protocol and its transposition into EU law

MEPs proceeded with final adoption, on 11 March, of the regulation implementing in the European Union the United Nations Protocol on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilisation, the so-called ABS (access and benefit-sharing) or Nagoya Protocol. It endorsed by a very large majority (630 to 14, with 38 abstentions) the agreement worked out with the Council in December 2013.

Adoption of the regulation paves the way to formal ratification by the Union of the protocol concluded in October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan. After accomplishing its duty, the EU will be able to participate in the Conference of Parties to the International Convention on Biological Diversity, to be held in Seoul, South Korea, on 6-17 October.

"I am delighted that, four years after the Nagoya summit, the European Union is in a position to keep its international commitments. [ ] This is an important signal that shows that we wish to continue to work with our international partners to improve biodiversity protection at international level," declared rapporteur Sandrine Belier (Greens-EFA, France).

The ABS protocol states that genetic material, whether from animals, plants or micro-organisms, and having present or potential value, must be considered as genetic resources...