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DRAFT ACCESS TO BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES AND BENEFIT SHARING BILL GOES ON ONLINE FOR VIEWS AND INPUTS
Monday 24/09/2012
KUALA LUMPUR, September 24 (Bernama) --
Malaysia as one of the twelve mega diverse countries has huge potential in wealth creation through the sustainable use of our rich biodiversity. This potential has been highlighted in the New Economic Model (2010) and also the Biodiversity and Biotechnology Policy of the nation. One of the main elements that is needed in realising the wealth from our rich biodiversity is to have a clear and transparent legal framework. A law has to be in place to ensure when our nations’ biological resources is utilised, it is taken with the prior informed consent of the provider and with benefit sharing agreements in place.
Hence, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) Malaysia is currently in the process of finalising the Access to Biological Resources and Benefit Sharing Bill. The purpose of this Bill is to regulate bio-prospecting activities in Malaysia particularly on R&D activities with commercial and potential commercial purpose. The Bill is also needed for Malaysia to implement the third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the relevant articles to promote the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of biological resources. Furthermore, the world recently adopted a protocol under CBD called the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization, which will require Malaysia to have a domestic law in place before becoming a Party to this Protocol.
This draft Bill also has provisions to recognise the role of indigenous and local communities with regard to biological resources and associated traditional knowledge. The Ministry had conducted several consultation sessions with stakeholders from government agencies, states government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), universities, research institutes, Indigenous and Local Communities (ILCs) and industries to gather input and views to develop the draft Bill. The input from the consultation sessions had been incorporated in the draft Bill. As part of our open, participative and transparent consultation process, NRE is posting the draft Bill online at NRE’s webpage (www.nre.gov.my) 25 September to 8 October 2012 for comments and views from all stakeholders. Questions regarding the draft Bill can be directed to biodiversity@nre.gov.my.
SOURCE: Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Malaysia
Corporate Communication Unit
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
Tel : 03-8886 1585/03-8886 1728
Fax : 03-8889 4763
--BERNAMA
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