On March 04, 2021, Brazil deposited at the United Nations a letter ratifying the Nagoya Protocol (Protocol) on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), signed by the Chief of the Executive Branch, Jair Bolsonaro.

The Brazilian Senate had voted on the text of the Bill of Legislative Decree #324/20 on August 6, 2020, approving the Protocol.  The final step is enacting a federal Decree by the President, allowing the treaty to take effect in Brazil, as reported in the Client Alert of August 10, 2020. From now on, Brazil will participate in future deliberations under the Protocol, beginning with the next Conference of the Parties to the CBD.

The Protocol's objective is to enable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and the traditional knowledge associated with them fairly and equitably. The Nagoya Protocol's ratification will bring some legal certainty to users and suppliers of genetic material and may play an important role in the valuation process of Brazilian environmental assets and the development of the bio-economy.

As a result, the Protocol has the potential to eliminate the regulatory asymmetries that currently exist between national and international industries.

For more information on this matter, please e-mail us at info@lickslegal.com.

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