Ratifications by Togo and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have brought the total number of ratifications to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation to 72.
The Governments of Togo and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland deposited their
instruments of ratification with the Secretary General of the United Nations on 10 February and 22 February 2016 respectively. As provided for in its article 33(2), the Nagoya Protocol will enter into force in Togo on 10 May 2016. For the United Kingdom, entry into force will take place on 22 May 2016, the International Day for Biological Diversity.
With the ratification by Togo, 31 African countries have now ratified the Nagoya Protocol. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s ratification follows suit with the European Union’s accession to the treaty in October 2015, and the ratification by nine other European countries. Both countries have now ratified all treaties related to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
“With the actions by Togo and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, we are moving
closer to our goal of reaching 100 ratifications by the second meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol (COP-MOP 2), being held in December 2016,” said Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity. “I count on the support of Parties and our partners to promote ratification of the Protocol, and I encourage countries to maintain this momentum by joining this comprehensive, international agreement on access and benefit-sharing.”
In December 2015 these views were echoed by the United Nations General Assembly by inviting Parties to the Convention to ratify the Nagoya Protocol in resolution 70/472.
Ratifying the Nagoya Protocol prior to COP-MOP 2 will enable countries to participate in decision-making
at this meeting and to further advance the global implementation of this landmark treaty.
Considering the 90-day delay for entry into force of the Protocol, countries that wish to fully participate at
COP-MOP have been advised to take measures to deposit their instrument of ratification before September 2016.
The 2010 Nagoya Protocol is a key element in the global framework for sustainable development. It builds
on one of the three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity: the fair and equitable sharing of
benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources. The Protocol is also vital to creating value for traditional knowledge by requiring users to obtain permission to use it, and to share any benefits that result
from its use with the communities who hold it.
