Cameroon, protocol on the genetic ressources access has been tabled at senat

Two days after the opening plenary sitting of Parliament for the June 2014 ordinary session on June 11 2014, Senators were once more in a plenary sitting on Friday, June 13 during which three government bills were tabled for scrutiny and adoption. The plenary sitting was chaired by the Président of Senate, Marcel Niat Njifenji.

The second bill tabled in the Senat is the one to authorize the Président of the Republic to accede to Nagoya Protocol on Access to Generic Resources and Fair and Equitable sharing of the benefits arising from their utilization, adopted on 29 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan. The protocol is aimed at regulating access to the exploitation of genetic resources coming under the Convention on Biological Diversity and Managing the sharing of benefits arising from their utilization. It lays down a complete legal framework from the collection of such resources to the sharing of proceeds from their sales and obtaining related invention patents. Should Cameroon accede to the protocol, the country will be eligible for funding of its programmes and activities intended for sensitization, conservation and national capacity building offered by the protocol through the Global Environment Fund (GEF), improve the living conditions of indigenous populations and local communities and raise additional funds for the State.