Providing access to marine genetic resources is one of EMBRC’s primary services. The EMBRC is committed to facilitating access to and supply of marine biological and genetic material to users in compliance with international, European and national legal frameworks regarding Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS). The European Blue Biobank (EBB) project, under the umbrella of EMBRC, supports this aspiration by promoting compliance with ABS regulations derived from the Nagoya Protocol and implemented in Europe through the EU ABS Regulation that came into force in 2014 as well as Member State’s access legislations, where applicable. This regulatory framework, although effective in protecting the rights of the provider country, puts burden on the user to demonstrate lawful utilization and there are concerns that the added bureaucracy in relation to ABS regulations may be detrimental to Research, Development and innovation activities. In order to help navigating the EU ABS Regulations to both users and research infrastructures, facilities, biobanks and collections, the EBB project has launched a series of webinars. They aim to provide an introduction to EU Access and Benefit Sharing regulations for collections and users, including information about its scope, recommendations for institutions with users and collections of marine genetic resources and for users on how to manage ABS compliance, and a description of the EU Registers to support ABS compliance. This series of webinars have been authorized by Heidi Tillin from the Marine Biological Association (MBA), Anne Emmanuelle Kervella and Arnaud Laroquette from EMBRC-ERIC, and Belén Martínez, Fiz da Costa and Maria del Mar Costa Portela from the University of Vigo. They are accesible through the MBA YouTube channel.
