Highlights

• The Act amending the Act on Access to Genetic Resources and the Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Use was signed by the President of the Republic of Poland on 9 January 2025. 
• It sets the maximum limit for state expenditure on the implementation of provisions concerning access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits from their use over the next 10 years, i.e. 2026-2035. 
• The provisions guarantee the legal use of genetic resources, which supports the protection of biodiversity in line with the Nagoya Protocol. 

The Act determines how much money the state can spend over the next 10 years to implement the legislation on access to and benefit-sharing of genetic resources. This will enable further monitoring of users of these resources and reporting in accordance with legal requirements. The provisions concern the legal use of genetic resources, i.e. plants, animals or microorganisms originating from specific countries, which may be used for research or commercial purposes. Users must obtain the consent of these resources' country of origin and, after commercialisation, share the benefits from their use with that country, whether financial or non-financial. The aim is to protect biodiversity and ensure the fair sharing of benefits in accordance with the Nagoya Protocol and EU law. 

The Nagoya Protocol, whose provisions are implemented by the amended Act, puts into practice the ideas and provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity and is one of many measures taken to protect biodiversity. 

In addition to setting a maximum spending limit for the next 10 years, the Act also specifies a correction mechanism for this limit, leaving only the existing mechanism of ‘reducing working hours’ in place. This will allow inspectors to be temporarily transferred to other duties, thus ensuring continuity of employment in inspector positions. 

Setting a new spending limit for the Act is necessary to meet the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 511/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council, which primarily concerns the control of users in terms of compliance with the requirements of the Nagoya Protocol. The amendment of the maximum expenditure limit for the 2016 Act on Access to Genetic Resources and the Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Use will have to take place every 10 years, as required by the Act on Public Finance.