Guidance

Understand the UK requirements for marine genetic resources under the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Act 2026

Find out about the requirements relating to marine genetic resources under Part 2 of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Act 2026.

• From: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Published: 10 August 2026

About this guidance

Part 2 of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Act 2026 sets out obligations relating to:

• marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction
• digital sequence information on marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction

Detailed guidance on these requirements will be published soon.

This guidance will cover:

• collection of marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction
• utilisation of marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction
• utilisation of digital sequence information on marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction
• reporting by repositories and databases

Understand what marine genetic resources are

Marine genetic resources are:

Any material of marine plant, animal, microbial or other origin containing functional units of heredity of actual or potential value

Understand what digital sequence information is

For the purposes of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Act 2026, digital sequence information means DNA or ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequences in digital form.

Published 10 August 2026