Today the Federal Cabinet approved two bills allowing Germany's accession to the Nagoya Protocol. The Nagoya Protocol is a new kind of instrument for international nature conservation. It helps to better account for the value of biodiversity in the manufacture of new products and offers economic incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of nature. Biodiversity is valuable. Worldwide, ecosystems and the living organisms that call them home not only provide the foundation of our lives, they also have great potential for research and product development. For example, a medicinal plant from the tropical rainforest - a genetic resource - may be the basis for developing a new drug. Wild plants can be bred into new varieties and the cosmetics industry and the biotechnology industry can also use exotic plants to develop new and innovative products.
With this in mind, the international community adopted the Nagoya Protocol in 2010 at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Japan. The Nagoya Protocol establishes rules that must be observed when animals, plants or other living organisms are used for research and development in other countries. The aim is to ensure that the benefits from the use of such genetic resources are fairly and equitably shared with the country of origin. Countries with high biodiversity should also benefit economically from protecting and preserving habitats and species. At the same time, the goal is to ensure that researchers respect the laws of the country of origin and only use legally acquired biological material for their research. By putting value on genetic resources, a strong incentive for conservation will be established worldwide.
The Nagoya Protocol entered into force on 12 October 2014. To date, 58 States and the EU have joined. With the two laws adopted today, the Cabinet is setting the course for Germany's accession to the Nagoya Protocol: In future, the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation will monitor whether users of genetic resources are following the relevant rules on access and benefit sharing. In addition, patent law has been changed so that when registering patents in the future it can be determined whether biological material from other countries has been used and whether this was obtained legally.