The Schedule on utilisation information provides further detail about the requirements for information which must be provided by the person who controls a utilisation project, as set out in Section 3 subsection (2).
	Article 12(8) of the BBNJ Agreement sets out that information about the following should be provided to the Clearing-House Mechanism in addition to the "BBNJ" standardised batch identifier if available:
Where the results of the utilization, such as publications, patents granted, if available and to the extent possible, and products developed, can be found;
Where available, details of the post-collection notification to the Clearing-House Mechanism related to the marine genetic resources that were the subject of utilization;
Where the original sample that is the subject of utilization is held;
The modalities envisaged for access to marine genetic resources and digital sequence information on marine genetic resources being utilized, and a data management plan for the same;
Once marketed, information, if available, on sales of relevant products and any further development.
	As with pre- and post-collection notifications, the utilisation notifications will be submitted to the BBNJ national focal point. With respect to information related to patents required under paragraph (a) of Article 12(8), the intention is that the form which will be produced for use by those required to provide utilisation notifications under the Act will include a link to the UK patent database. The term "relevant product" is defined in Section 27 subsection (1) of the Act.
	Article 12(8)(b) provides that the details of the post-collection notification are to be provided "where available" in recognition of the fact that such a notification may not be available for a variety of reasons. For example, the MGR of ABNJ may have been collected under the jurisdiction of a non-party to the BBNJ Agreement and therefore no pre- or post-collection notifications will have been provided to the BBNJ Clearing-House Mechanism, or the original collecting entity or individual may not have complied with the obligation to provide a pre- and post-collection notification to the BBNJ Clearing-House Mechanism.
	The obligation to provide a notification of utilisation of MGR of ABNJ under the Act will relate to MGR collected after entry into force of the Agreement for the UK. It is likely that MGR of ABNJ will be collected by entities under the jurisdiction of non-parties to the BBNJ Agreement after entry into force of the Agreement for the UK, and such MGR may subsequently be utilised in the UK. It is likely to be possible to identify from location and date data associated with such MGR that they are from ABNJ and as such they trigger obligations for relevant persons in the UK to provide utilisation notifications. Given the international nature of scientific research, it is important to ensure that those utilising MGR or DSI on those MGR are not penalised in these circumstances.
	Paragraph 1 of the Schedule sets out the usual time limit of within 1 month, beginning on the day on which the result of the utilisation is achieved, by which a utilisation notification must be sent to the Secretary of State (in practice to the BBNJ national focal point).
	To meet the requirements of Article 12(8)(e) of the Agreement, paragraph 2 of the Schedule sets out that where utilisation involves commercialisation, the required utilisation notification must be given within 1 month, beginning with the day on which the product in question is made available, and then once a year while the product remains available. The term "commercialisation" is defined in Section 20 subsection (1) of the BBNJ Act.
	Paragraph 3 provides that information does not have to be given where the relevant person does not have, and could not without reasonable effort obtain, the information, or where the utilisation is of DSI, it is, for any other reason not reasonably practicable to give the information. This provision operationalises the obligations in Article 12(8) of the BBNJ Agreement.
	Most research into, development and commercialisation of DSI is non-linear. It may be that several research threads are pursued in parallel and that the intended objective of the research is completely changed between the start and end of the process.
	At the start of this process, DSI on MGR is queried against DSI databases containing millions of sequences returning tens to hundreds of sequences from different organisms. These sequences are combined with the original DSI on MGR used in the query leading to a hybrid sequence that may be subject to further modification. After a research process taking months to years, a final sequence is arrived at which will be used in a final product that may be patented and commercialised. Further modifications will take the modified sequence far away from the original sequence so that it bears little resemblance to the original and it may even be impossible to trace it back to the original DSI on an MGR used at the start. In the case of large-scale screening of a sequence against a database of millions of sequences, some of which may be of MGR of ABNJ, the BBNJ Act should not require a notification of utilisation as it would not be practicable for the researcher to identify and geolocate each sequence that their research has queried. The intention of the language "reasonably practicable" is to avoid those utilising DSI needing to expend a significant amount of effort, time and/or expense to ascertain whether they have utilised DSI on MGR from ABNJ and are therefore required to submit a utilisation notification. Examples to assist those utilising DSI in assessing whether they are required to submit a utilisation notification will be set out in guidance.
	The time limits set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Schedule recognise that research and research and development projects take place over a number of years, but some results from such projects may be made publicly available before the formal end of the project.
	For example, the NERC-funded Seabed Mining and Resilience to Experimental Impact (SMARTEX) 7 project is a five-year multidisciplinary project. Some elements of the research undertaken under SMARTEX involve the collection of and research on MGR of ABNJ. Although the project is still ongoing, members of the SMARTEX project have already published academic papers that may meet the requirements to provide a utilisation notification under paragraph 1 of the Schedule. Examples of how the timelines set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 are intended to work in practice will be set out in guidance, but the FCDO would not expect an individual utilisation notification to be sent to the UK BBNJ national focal point each time DSI is generated on an individual MGR within a research project, given that a research project may be dealing with a large number of MGR. The aim is to ensure that no unreasonable administrative burdens are placed on those conducting research while ensuring transparency in the results of that research.
	Paragraph 4 of the Schedule provides that the Secretary of State may by written notice extend the timelines set out in paragraphs 1 and 2, allowing a longer timeline for the submission of a utilisation notification. It is anticipated that the requirement for agreement in writing will be satisfied by an email from the BBNJ national focal point.
	Paragraph 5 provides that for the purposes of the Schedule, "the utilisation" means the utilisation which forms part of the utilisation project concerned and falls within the scope of Section 3 subsection (1).
Schedule: Utilisation Information