Japan completed the process of ratifying the Nagoya Protocol on access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits arising from them, taking the step more than two years after the international agreement came into effect.

The process came to an end when Tokyo notified the United Nations of its ratification of the protocol after having approved it last week. Japan will officially join the pact on Aug. 20 that has already been ratified by 98 other signatories.

The protocol, adopted in 2010 at a conference held in the central Japan city of Nagoya, entered into force in 2014, aiming to support conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS) to the Convention on Biological Diversity is a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). It provides a transparent legal framework for the effective implementation of one of the three objectives of the CBD: the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.

Users of genetic resources are required to negotiate mutually agreeable terms with provider countries and report them to the government.

Those conducting scientific research and not seeking profits from such resources as plants, animals and microorganisms will have to share findings with providing countries.