Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Act 2026

Part 1 — Introduction

The Agreement

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• (1) In this Act, “the Agreement” means the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, opened for signature at New York on 20 September 2023.

• (2) For the purposes of this Act, the following terms have the meanings that they have in the Agreement (see Article 1)—

• “areas beyond national jurisdiction”, and

• “marine genetic resources”.

Part 2 — Marine genetic resources

Provision of information

Collection

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• (1) This section applies in relation to a project (a “collection project”) in which a UK craft is used to collect marine genetic resources in an area beyond national jurisdiction.

• (2) The relevant person in relation to the collection project must ensure that no marine genetic resources are collected for the purposes of the project unless—

• (a) the information described in paragraphs (a) to (j) of Article 12(2) of the Agreement (pre-collection information) has been given to the Secretary of State, and

• (b) subject to subsection (3), a period of at least 7 months has passed, beginning with the day (or the last day) on which that information was given to the Secretary of State.

• (3) The Secretary of State may, by notice in writing given to the relevant person, reduce the period mentioned in subsection (2)(b) where the Secretary of State considers that there is a compelling reason for marine genetic resources to be collected as part of the project despite less than 7 months having passed since the information was given to the Secretary of State.

• (4) The relevant person must ensure that the information described in paragraphs (a) to (d) of Article 12(5) of the Agreement (post-collection information) is given to the Secretary of State—

• (a) as soon as it is all available, and

• (b) in any case, before the end of the period of 11 months beginning with the last day on which marine genetic resources are collected in an area beyond national jurisdiction as part of the project.

• (5) In this section—

• “collect”, in relation to marine genetic resources, means collecting or sampling such resources other than incidentally when carrying out an activity for another purpose;

• “the relevant person”, in relation to a collection project, is the individual with principal responsibility for the scientific or technical aspects of the project so far as it concerns marine genetic resources.

Utilisation

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• (1) This section applies in relation to a project (a “utilisation project”) involving the utilisation in the United Kingdom of—

• (a) marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction, or

• (b) digital sequence information on such resources.

• (2) The person who controls the utilisation project (“the relevant person”) must ensure that information is given to the Secretary of State in accordance with the Schedule.

• (3) The relevant person must ensure that samples of any marine genetic resources the utilisation of which falls within subsection (1)(a) are deposited in a suitable repository.

• (4) The relevant person must ensure that any digital sequence information the utilisation of which falls within subsection (1)(b) is recorded in a suitable database.

• (5) The relevant person must comply with subsection (3) or (4) within the period of 3 years beginning with the day on which the utilisation project begins.

• (6) The relevant person must ensure that the deposited samples are, or the recorded information is, identifiable by reference to any Article 12(3) identifier relating to the marine genetic resources concerned.

• (7) Repositories and databases are “suitable” if they are—

• (a) publicly accessible, and

• (b) operated, in any part of the world, in accordance with current international practice.

Onward disclosure

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• (1) This section applies to information given to the Secretary of State as mentioned in section 2 or 3.

• (2) The Secretary of State may give the information to the Clearing-House Mechanism established under Article 51 of the Agreement.

• (3) But the Secretary of State may not give the information where—

• (a) it is protected information within the meaning given by section 1(2) of the National Security Act 2023, or

• (b) in the opinion of the Secretary of State, the Agreement does not require it to be given (see Article 51(6)).

Sharing of benefits

Repositories

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• (1) This section applies in relation to a repository in the United Kingdom in which samples of marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction are stored.

• (2) The person who controls the repository must—

• (a) so far as reasonably practicable, ensure that the samples—

• (i) can be identified, in accordance with current international practice, as originating from areas beyond national jurisdiction, and

• (ii) in particular, can be identified by reference to any Article 12(3) identifier relating to the marine genetic resources concerned,

• (b) provide access to the samples for the purposes of their utilisation by another person (subject to section 7(1)), and

• (c) for each relevant 2-year period (see section 7(2)), give the Secretary of State a report stating, so far as reasonably practicable, the number of times access to the samples has been provided under paragraph (b).

• (3) A report under subsection (2)(c) must identify the samples by reference to any Article 12(3) identifier relating to the marine genetic resources concerned.

Databases

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• (1) This section applies in relation to a UK database in which digital sequence information (“DSI”) on marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction is stored.

• (2) A “UK database” is a database that is—

• (a) controlled by a person in the United Kingdom, and

• (b) accessible by members of the public.

• (3) The person who controls the UK database must—

• (a) so far as reasonably practicable, ensure that the DSI—

• (i) can be identified, in accordance with current international practice, as relating to marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction, and

• (ii) in particular, can be identified by reference to any Article 12(3) identifier relating to the marine genetic resources concerned,

• (b) provide access to the DSI (subject to section 7(1)), and

• (c) for each relevant 2-year period (see section 7(2)), give the Secretary of State a report stating the number of times the DSI has been viewed or downloaded.

• (4) A report under subsection (3)(c) must identify the DSI by reference to any Article 12(3) identifier relating to the marine genetic resources concerned.

• (5) For the purposes of this section, the person who controls a database is in the United Kingdom if—

• (a) in the case of an individual, the individual is habitually resident in the United Kingdom, and

• (b) in any other case, the person is incorporated or formed under the law of any part of the United Kingdom.

Supplementary provision

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• (1) Access provided under section 5(2)(b) or 6(3)(b) may be made subject to conditions consistent with paragraphs (a) to (d) of Article 14(4) of the Agreement (factors that may affect access).

• (2) For the purposes of sections 5(2)(c) and 6(3)(c), a “relevant 2-year period” is—

• (a) the period of 2 years beginning with the day on which—

• (i) the Agreement enters into force in accordance with Article 68(1), or

• (ii) if later, the Agreement enters into force for the United Kingdom in accordance with Article 68(2), and

• (b) each subsequent period of 2 years.

• (3) A report under section 5(2)(c) or 6(3)(c) must be given to the Secretary of State—

• (a) before the end of the period of 2 months beginning with the day immediately after the relevant 2-year period in question, or

• (b) by such other time as the Secretary of State may, by directions given to the person required to give the report, specify for the purposes of complying with any timetable set by the access and benefit-sharing committee established under Article 15 of the Agreement.

• (4) Directions under subsection (3)(b) may be general or specific.

Miscellaneous

Exceptions

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• (1) Nothing in this Part applies in relation to—

• (a) the use of a UK craft for fishing—

• (i) in accordance with a licence issued under section 15(1) of the Fisheries Act 2020, or

• (ii) where such a licence is not required as a result of section 14(2) of that Act;

• (b) anything that is done in accordance with the joint fisheries statement, or any document or plan issued by the fisheries policy authorities or the Marine Management Organisation for the purposes of the Fisheries Act 2020, to give effect to the scientific evidence objective within the meaning given by section 1(5) of that Act (including the utilisation, to give effect to that objective, of fish or other living marine resources known to have been taken in fishing and fishing-related activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction);

• (c) a warship, military aircraft or naval auxiliary, within the meaning of Article 4 of the Agreement;

• (d) anything done in the course of military activities, within the meaning of Article 10(3) of the Agreement;

• (e) anything done in Antarctica;

• (f) marine genetic resources of Antarctica (including digital sequence information on such resources).

• (2) In subsection (1)—

• “Antarctica” has the meaning given by section 1 of the Antarctic Act 1994;

• “the fisheries policy authorities” has the meaning given by section 52 of the Fisheries Act 2020;

• “joint fisheries statement” means any joint fisheries statement published from time to time under section 2 of that Act.

Power to make regulations

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• (1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision within subsection (2) for the purposes of implementing the United Kingdom’s obligations under Part 2 of the Agreement (marine genetic resources, including the fair and equitable sharing of benefits).

• (2) The provision that may be made is provision—

• (a) to ensure that the United Kingdom complies with Part 2 of the Agreement in a way that is consistent with Article 5(2) of the Agreement (interaction between the Agreement and other instruments etc) so far as it applies to the United Kingdom in relation to any other international agreement or arrangement to which the United Kingdom is a party;

• (b) to enable or facilitate the implementation of a decision of the Conference of the Parties under Article 14(7) of the Agreement (sharing of monetary benefits), including by imposing requirements—

• (i) to disclose information relevant to the calculation of any payment required by the decision,

• (ii) to make payments required by the decision, or

• (iii) to make payments for the purpose of enabling the Secretary of State or another person to make payments required by the decision;

• (c) making any changes to this Part that are necessary in consequence of any determination that may be made by the Conference of the Parties in accordance with Article 51(2) of the Agreement about the operation of the Clearing-House Mechanism established by Article 51(1) of the Agreement;

• (d) to limit the application of this Part in accordance with Article 51(6) of the Agreement (protection from disclosure);

• (e) to secure that no person is required to comply both with a provision of or under this Part (“the domestic provision”) and with a corresponding provision of the law of another State that is a party to the Agreement;

• (f) about the enforcement of requirements imposed by or under this Part.