Study On The Legal Status Of Genetic Resources In International Seabed Areas

The ocean possesses the most abundant resources of the earth’s surface. With the development of biological science and technology, the comprehensive development of marine resources has become possible; ocean genetic resources outside of national jurisdiction can be developed and utilized within years. The genetic resource of international seabed area is a kind of new generation of marine resources found in the ocean seabed areas, which is different from the traditional resources. International seabed area genetic resources can be used to explore the relevance marine organisms and the environment, and also can be used to develop new drugs. It has great application values because of its special physical structure and biological properties.Genetic resources of the International Seabed Area has become the international focus, at the same time, it also brings new problems. International society has a great interest in deep sea, but those related to the ownership of the genetic resources of international seabed area is still in vacancy in international law. All countries give kinds of different opinions from their own interests on the basis of referring to the existing international conventions to the law status.In addition to the introduction and conclusion, this paper is divided into four parts:The first part defines the jurisdiction of the international seabed area of genetic resources, including the concept and scope of international seabed area genetic resources, and the characteristics of International seabed area genetic resources, and also some legal problems to be solved. The aim is to lay the foundation for the analysis, the problems and the solutions.The second part is an overview of the "freedom of the seas" system, which pionts out that "the freedom of the high seas" system refers to the "United Nations Convention on the law of the sea" in terms of the freedom of the high seas, which could be unrestricted exploited within a reasonable range, so as to achieve the comprehensive development and utilization of marine resources. And then analyzes the shortcomings that the "freedom of the seas" system brings to the environment and the development of the international society, thus to deny the "legal status of freedom of the high seas" system.The third part is an overview of the "new agreements" system, firstly, the author points out that the "new agreements" refer to the existing system of "United Nations Convention on the law of the sea", and regulating the development and protection of genetic resources in deep sea by enacting a new Convention and the implementation of the agreement, and points out the shortcomings by the application of "new agreement for the implementation" system from the agreement, which process high cost, thus to deny the legal status of the agreement for the implementation of the new system.The fourth part is an overview of the first "regional" system, pointed out that the "area" refers to the system of International seabed area genetic resources development according to "the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea", which has appeared in "the international seabed area management system". The application procedures of the exploration of international seabed genetic resources are leaded by the management authority. Then the author points out the defects and obstacles of the implementation of the Convention. Finally, the author points out the defects of the Convention, and the supplement and improvement of its legal status by the 1994 Agreement, thus comes to conclusion that the "regional" system can be applied by the development of International seabed area genetic resources.