Press Release: Environment: Commission proposes measures to tackle ‘biopiracy’ and facilitate nature-based research

Researchers and companies in the EU have received a boost with a new proposal that should provide reliable access to genetic resources from outside the Union.

The proposal – a draft Regulation that would implement the 'Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-sharing' – is designed to protect the rights of countries and of indigenous and local communities that allow their genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge to be used, while also giving researchers in Europe improved, reliable access to quality samples of genetic resources at low cost with high legal certainty.

European Commission: Memo/12/738: Questions and answers on access and benefit-sharing http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/12/738&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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