Research On The Legal System For The Utilization And Benefit-sharing Of Genetic Resources In The International Seabed Region

With the development of deep sea exploitation technology,people have gradually realized the abundance of biodiversity and genetic resources in the International Seabed Areas,which is characterized by its significant academic and commercial values.However,there is still obvious legal loophole in terms of the attribution and utilization as well as the benefit-sharing issue of regional deep sea genetic resources under the current international law system.International instruments such as The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS),The Convention on Biological Diversity(CBD)and relevant international intellectual property systems all fail to respond the current situation in this field,some international instruments even contradict each other.The international society has summoned several conferences for a new system aiming at resource perseverance and protection in the foreseen future.The preliminary issue herein is to figure out the legal attribute of regional deep sea genetic resources.It is coincident with the original purpose of UNCLOS to list the biological resources as “common heritage of mankind”.Moreover,the International Seabed Authority is undoubtedly the prioritized supervising subject for regional genetic resources regulation.Based on the aforementioned factors,with reference to benefit-sharing mechanism in modern international law system,the international society may,adopting the intention to stimulate genetic resources exploitation,consider the construction of a comprehensive international intellectual property protection system with “common heritage of mankind” as its cornerstone,and allocate the monetary as well as non-monetary interest from such activities in a fair and reasonable method.