A law on biodiversity in the Republic of Benin was being studied this Monday, January 4 in parliament. It was adopted after examination in plenary at the Governors Palace in Porto-Novo.
It is a new step that Benin is taking in its desire to adhere to the Cartagena Protocol. The validation of this law was an essential step.
Composed of ninety-eight (98) articles spread over eight (08) chapters, the text adopted by the national representation has as goal to fill the existing legal vacuum in this area to guarantee an adequate level of protection in the domain of transfer, of the manipulation and use of genetically modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology, which can have adverse effects on the environment, human health, conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.
Read more:Benin: The fastest country in business creation?
On March 20, 2019, the Council of Ministers adopted the draft decree on transmission to the National Assembly the draft law on biodiversity in the Republic of Benin. In May of the same year, the Beninese government forwarded to the National Assembly for adoption this bill on biosafety in the Republic of Benin.
The last report on the state of biodiversity in Benin mention the existence of ecosystems such as dry dense forests, semi-decidues, gallery forests, swamps, open forests, savannas (shrubs, trees, woods ), swamp savannas, mangroves and grasslands. This law regulates the sector.