Various Aspects of Benefits

What are considered benefits?

Benefits can range from access to the information associated with research acitivitie in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) to royalties from commercialization of a product that incorporates materials from marine genetic resources (MGRs) or associated digital sequence information. The BBNJ Treaty identifies two categories of benefits:

Non-monetary benefits: data, information, ship time, training, etc.
Monetary benefits: royalties from commercialization of a product, or other types of payments associated with utilization of MGRs of ABNJ.

It is important to note that while the notification and benefits are in two separate articles in the BBNJ Treaty, the information provided (e.g., information in the pre-collection, post-collection, and utilization) is a benefit, for the purposes of the benefit-sharing requirements.

In addition to the information provided from the notification requirements, the MGR Mechanism will facilitate the following "non-monetary" benefits:

Access to samples and sample collection in accordance with current international practice.
Transfer of marine technology, pursuant to the process identified in the Treaty.
Capacity-building, including by financing research programmes, and scientists and researchers in research projects, as well as to dedicate initiatives, in particular for developing countries, taking into account the special circumstances of small island developing countries and of least developed coutries.
Increased technical and scientific cooperation, in particular with scientists from the scientific institutions in developing countries.
Other forms of benefits as determined by the Conference of the Parties (COP), taking into account recommendations of the access and benefit-sharing committee.

The Parties will implement and comply with the Treaty requirements by enacting necessary legislative, administrative or policy measures at the national level. For that reason, each Party will have its own processes and requirements for the various stakeholders that can contribute to the benefit-sharing regime. For example, a Party could require certain information sharing requirements for a home institution or a business that is planning a research project that will involve collection activities in ABNJ.

Ref. BBNJ Treaty Art. 12, 14, and 15.

For background information associated with MGRs of ABNJ, visit the page here. For information about physical materials, visit the page here. For information about data, visit the page here. For information on monetary benefits, visit the page here. For information about capacity building and the transfer of marine tecchnology, visit the page here. For specific information on the outcome of the COP meetings, visit the page here. For information about a specific Party, visit the page here.

Who will receive the benefits?

There is an emphasis on developing country Parties as recipients of benefits in the BBNJ Treaty. The modalities and allocation of the benefits will be decided by the Conference of the Parties (COP). The BBNJ Treaty's access and benefit-sharing committee may provide recommendations to the COP to that end.

Ref. BBNJ Treaty Art. 14, and 15.