NAGOYA, Japan, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- The international community agreed in Japan on a global treaty to manage genetic resources, the U.N. Environment Program announced.
UNEP said it helped broker a protocol that defines the basic ground rules for the management of genetic resources ranging from animals to plants and fungi. The deal, the environmental organization said, came after nearly 20 years of debate.
The treaty outlines ways in which nations would share genetic information after the material enters the commercial pharmaceutical market, for example. It also calls on developed nations to help poorer countries find ways to protect genetic resources in the event that new medicines or crops are exploited.
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said the new treaty was a significant contribution to the push to stem the loss of ecosystems and plant and animal species.
The approval of the International Regime on Access and Benefit Sharing of Genetic Resources came on the final day of a conference on biological diversity in Nagoya, Japan.
Delegates at the Nagoya conference agreed to reach new targets on biodiversity loss by 2020.
