28 September 2011: The number of signatories to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has reached 64, following several additions on the margins of the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly at UN Headquarters, New York, US.

The latest signatures come from: Cape Verde, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Grenada, Madagascar, Mozambique, Niger, Slovenia and Togo. CBD Executive Secretary Ahmed Djoghlaf commented that in addition to those Parties signing the Nagoya Protocol at the margins of the session – several others had signed at a ceremony on 20 September 2011 – more than 200 participants attended the Ministerial Breakfast on the Protocol chaired by the President of the Conference of the Parties (COP), “thus demonstrating the continued commitment of the international community as a whole for its early entry into force.”

No country has ratified the Protocol yet. According to its Article 33, the Protocol shall enter into force 90 days after its 50th ratification. [CBD Press Release, 26 September 2011] [CBD Press Release, 28 September 2011] [List of Signatories] [Biodiversity Policy & Practice Story on Signatories on 20 September]