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UN forum on biodiversity adopts first-ever global guidelines on genetic resources

UN forum on biodiversity adopts first-ever global guidelines on genetic resources

A United Nations conference on biodiversity concluded today after adopting guidelines encouraging companies to pay countries for the right to acquire local plants used in making drugs and fragrances.

In addition to these guidelines, the two-week meeting in The Hague on the Convention on Biological Diversity also approved an international work programme on forests and guiding principles on combating alien invasive species.

"This conference marks a major turning point for the Convention and has helped move us from policy development to implementation, from dialogue to action," said Geke Faber, President of the conference and Vice Minister of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries of the Netherlands.

The Convention was adopted in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and sets out commitments for maintaining the world's ecological underpinnings as it relates to economic development. The Convention establishes three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from the use of genetic resources.