Montreal, 5 September 2013 – Honduras and Tajikistan became the most recent countries to ratify the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

This brings the total number of ratifications of the Nagoya Protocol to 20. These two countries join Albania, Botswana, Comoros, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, India, Jordan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mauritius, Mexico, the Federated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, Panama, Rwanda, the Seychelles, South Africa and the Syrian Arab Republic as countries that have ratified or acceded to the landmark treaty. Honduras is the second Central American country, and Tajikistan the sixth Asian country, to ratify the treaty.

The Nagoya Protocol will enter into force on the 90th day after the date of deposit of the 50th instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

“The ratifications of Honduras and Tajikistan add to the momentum towards the entry into force of the Protocol in time for the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, to be hosted by the Republic of Korea in October 2014”, said Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

United Nations Secretary-General Ban-Ki-moon, as part of his message for the 2013 International Day for Biological Diversity called “on all Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity who have not already done so, to ratify the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization, and therefore help us all to work toward the future we want.” His statement of support follows on his recent letter to all Heads of State/Government highlighting the valuable contribution that the Protocol can make to sustainable development and urging ratification at the earliest opportunity so that the international community can move to the implementation phase.

At the Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity which took place from 27 to 31 May 2013, the Ministers of Environment of Norway and India as well as the CBD Executive Secretary encouraged Parties to the Convention to expedite their national processes towards the ratification of the Nagoya Protocol and recalled that ratifying would enable countries to participate as Parties in the first meeting of the Parties to the Protocol and to play an important role in the decision-making process to support its implementation.

Countries wishing to obtain further information on how to become a Party to the Protocol can consult the following website: www.cbd.int/abs/becoming-party/

Notes to Editors
The Nagoya Protocol was adopted at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties in 2010, in Nagoya, Japan, and significantly advances the objective of the Convention on the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources by providing greater legal certainty and transparency for both providers and users of genetic resources. By promoting the use of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, and by strengthening the opportunities for fair and equitable sharing of benefits from their use, the Protocol will create incentives to conserve biodiversity, sustainably use its components, and further enhance the contribution of biodiversity to sustainable development and human well-being.

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: ww.cbd.int/abs/nagoyaprotocol/

signatories/

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
Opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and entering into force in December 1993, the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international treaty for the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of the components of biodiversity and the equitable sharing of the benefits derived from the use of genetic resources. With 193 Parties, the Convention has near universal participation among countries. The Convention seeks to address all threats to biodiversity and ecosystem services, including threats from climate change, through scientific assessments, the development of tools, incentives and processes, the transfer of technologies and good practices and the full and active involvement of relevant stakeholders including indigenous and local communities, youth, NGOs, women and the business community. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is a subsidiary agreement to the Convention. It seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology. To date, 166 countries plus the European Union have ratified the Cartagena Protocol. The Secretariat of the Convention and its Cartagena Protocol is located in Montreal. For more information visit: www.cbd.int.

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