Animals, plants and micro-organisms have great potential for product development. Their genetic material and the traditional knowledge of their benefits can provide significant commercial and non-commercial advantages to humans. Against this background, the 10th Conference of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted the Nagoya Protocol in 2010, which entered into force in October 2014. Thus far, 58 states and the EU have acceded to the Protocol.
The Nagoya Protocol and the new EU ABS regime establish regulations that determine how genetic resources and knowledge from other countries can be used for research and development. These legal instruments are intended to ensure that the benefits from their use are fairly shared with the country of origin. Thus, countries with high biodiversity shall be given an incentive to preserve their ecosystems and biodiversity.
What do the complex regulations of the ABS regime mean for research in Germany? How can scientists, especially in the life sciences, comply with these regulations, which will probably increase the administrative obstacles for their research? The Office for Knowledge Exchange of the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT) is organising a seminar in which these issues will be illuminated from different perspectives.
Experts from various disciplines will present the factual background and the effects of the regulations. At the same time scientists will be given support to interpret and implement the ABS regime in their research work. The seminar is intended for scientists who use biological (in particular genetic) material and active substances from foreign countries or who include traditional knowledge associated with this material in their research.
We cordially invite interested scientists to participate:
Date: 14 Juli 2015
Duration: 11 am – 4:15 pm + open end
Location: Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT), Fahrenheitstrasse 6, Bremen
Contact: Dr. Bevis Fedder, Office for Knowledge Exchange at the ZMT, Tel.: +49(0)421 / 23800-67, email: bevis.fedder@zmt-bremen.de
Participation is free. Please register at bevis.fedder@zmt-bremen.de to facilitate the seminar preparation process.