EVA-GLOBAL WP7

The Science Policy & Internationalisation department leads a work package on Nagoya Protocol compliance, digital sequence information, and regulatory issues across the EVAg consortium. Through the development of a Nagoya Protocol compliance strategy, the consortium aims to ensure that genetic material offered through the EVAg catalogue will be compliant with the Nagoya Protocol and EU regulation No 511/2014 (EU ABS regulation). This is a voluntary and proactive effort, as collections themselves are not legally required to be “Nagoya compliant”, because the act of collecting and storing genetic resources is not “utilization” as defined under the EU ABS regulation. The commitment from EVAg partners will greatly improve the usability and legal certainty of the viruses and products in the EVAg catalogue for end users in the EU and beyond.

Major Goals of the EVAg Science Policy package are:

1. Develop and implement a strategy for compliance with the Nagoya Protocol and EU ABS regulation for EVAg partners
2. Ensure that material in the EVA catalogue, including virus isolates and virus-derived material, is compliant with international legal frameworks