It has been nearly a year since 193 nations met in Nagoya, Japan, to agree on a set of strategic plans to conserve global biodiversity, and more than six months since one of those agreements was opened for signature and ratification by the participating nations.
The Nagoya Protocol is an international agreement aimed at ensuring the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources that contribute to biodiversity. It’s primary purpose is to protect developing countries from the misappropriation of their native biological diversity.
The Nagoya Protocol will not take effect unless 50 nations sign the agreement by February 1, 2012. Currently, only 42 nations have signed. The United States is not one of them.
(Source: www.environment.about.com )