1. On May 19, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs deposited the ROK’s instrument of ratification of 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 (hereinafter referred to as “Nagoya Protocol”)” with the UN Secretariat through the Permanent Mission of the ROK to the UN. The ROK will become a party to the Protocol from August 17, 2017.

2. The Nagoya Protocol was adopted to make sure that benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and related traditional knowledge are shared with countries providing genetic resources and indigenous peoples, thereby contributing to the conservation of biological resources. The Protocol entered into force on October 12, 2014, and as of May 2017, 99 countries have ratified it.

3. By ratifying the Protocol, the ROK has joined the international efforts to conserve biodiversity and contribute to its sustainable use, and established the foundation for examining the use of its genetic resources abroad, as well as sharing of benefits arising from it.

o As a party to the Nagoya Protocol, the ROK will also actively participate in discussions on issues regarding the implementation of the Protocol, including the issue of sharing benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources whose habitats stretch across several countries.


* unofficial translation