Abstract:

The Nagoya Protocol (NP) is an international legal framework for access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing. It opened for signature on February1, 2011, and was proposed to be in force 90 days after the date when the fiftieth country or regional organization had ratified it. By October 2013, the protocol had been signed by 92 countries and ratified by 26 countries. The protocol is now expected to be in force before the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2014. The Nagoya Protocol will change the current situation of unordered access to and free development of genetic resources. It will provide a premise and guarantee for the principle of national sovereignty of genetic resources and implementation of equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization. Analyses show that although genetic resources indigenous to China have been widely utilized by other developed countries, with patents taken out on some products, utilization in China has been poor owing to a weak capacity for independent innovation and underdeveloped biotechnology. China currently lacks a policy and regulatory system for access and benefit sharing (ABS) to its genetic resources. It is, therefore, a pressing matter for China to improve the implementation of the NP by strengthening national and local policies and regulations on ABS. There is also a need to increase investment to support basic research capacity and develop biological technology to fully utilize genetic resources in China

Key words: Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), biotechnology, traditional knowledge, access and benefit sharing (ABS), introduction, resources outflow