20 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 54, following a number of additions during a signing ceremony held on the margins of the opening of the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly at UN Headquarters, New York, US, on 20 September 2011.

At the ceremony, representatives of the following countries signed the Protocol: Belgium, Burkina Faso, Bhutan, Dominican Republic, France, Greece, Republic of Korea, Palau, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, and Tajikistan.

No country has ratified the Protocol yet. According to its Article 33, the Protocol shall enter into force 90 days after its 50th ratification. [UN News Release] [CBD Press Release] [List of Signatories]