Huge Annual Burden
As China has put the Nagoya Protocol, which is designed to share profits from using biological resources, into effect on September 6, the South Korean government estimates that the Nagoya Protocol will lay an annual burden of up to 500 billion won (US$447.63 million) on the domestic bio industry. In particular, large pharmaceutical firms, such as Dong-A Pharmaceutical, Daewoong Pharmaceutical, Kwang Dong Pharmaceutical and Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical, and cosmetic firms, including LG Household & Health Care, are currently using biological resources from China in their main products.
According to bio industry sources on the 11th, the Ministry of Environment placed an order for an emergency research and service report under the title of “countermeasures through the analysis of profit sharing cases and effects after the ratification of the Nagoya Protocol” on August 5 but it failed to conclude a contract once. Currently, it is preparing for the contract after additional arrangements.
The Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization said that 74, or 54.4 percent, out of 136 Korean bio companies use foreign biological resources and 51.4 percent of them use Chinese biological resources. Considering the fact that China has been interested in the Nagoya Protocol from years ago and ratified it in June this year, the report is long overdue.
The domestic bio industry is at a loss as the South Korean government has been slow to respond to the protocol. This is because the authorities don’t offer basic predictions, like related statistics and applicable subjects, let alone negotiations with the Chinese government. According to the “ripple effects of the Nagoya Protocol on industries” released by the government in 2011, the domestic bio industry will have an additional burden of 389.2 billion won (US$348.43 million) to 509.6 billion won (US$456.22 million) annually as of 2014 on account of the effectuation of the Nagoya Protocol.