Belarus to set up coordination center for genetic resources

Belarus will establish the National Coordination Center on Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit Sharing. The decision was formalized by Council of Ministers’ Resolution No. 933 as of 1 October 2014, BelTA learned from the National Center of Legal Information.

The center will be set up at the Institute of Genetics and Cytology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

The coordination center will monitor the use of genetic resources in line with the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity. It was adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity at its tenth meeting on 29 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan.

The coordination center will gather and analyze information about the country’s genetic resources and will create a databank of such resources. Specialists of the center will also determine the terms of access to genetic resources and the terms of their application and will monitor the use of such resources. The coordination center will be financed by the central budget.

The resolution will come into force on 5 October 2014.