Biodiversity supports the existence of humans and provides a variety of benefits to human life.
As living organisms have no national boundaries, conservation of biodiversity within one's own country is not enough: the conservation of biodiversity must be addressed on a global scale. Consequently, the Convention on Biological Diversity was agreed by the parties in May 1992 and entered into force on 29 December 1993.
As of June 2016, over 190 parties (including Japan and the European Union) are affiliated with this convention and examine specific strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.
The Convention has 3 main objectives:
- The conservation of biological diversity
- The sustainable use of the components of biological diversity
- The fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources
When you bring materials into a country, you need to obtain the prior informed consent (PIC) of the country in which the genetic resource is located before accessing the resource, and negotiate and agree on the terms and conditions of access and use of this resource through the establishment of mutually agreed terms (MAT). If you utilize overseas materials without appropriate consent, you may face various difficulties.
MMC supports the negotiation of PIC and MAT as part of MTA procedures. If you utilize overseas materials on joint/contracted research with foreign countries or individual research, or if you would like to deepen your understanding of the Convention on Biological Diversity for the future, please feel free to click the inquiry button below. We will propose the best way forward, while maintaining contact with the Japan Bioindustry Association, the consultation desk of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and so on.
