Part 2 of the Act establishes the UK’s domestic regime for implementing Part II of the BBNJ Agreement, which concerns the marine genetic resources (MGR) of areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) and digital sequence information which is generated on these MGR (referred to as "DSI on MGR") and the equitable sharing of benefits from their collection and use.
	Part 2 of the Act specifies the requirements that apply to persons involved in the collection, storage and utilisation of MGR of ABNJ, and in the storage and utilisation of DSI on these MGR. The policy objective of Part II of the Agreement, which is reflected in the provisions of Part 2 of the Act, is to enhance the transparency of, and share the benefits of, research undertaken on such MGR and DSI.
	MGR are defined in the BBNJ Agreement as "any material of marine plant, animal, microbial or other origin containing functional units of heredity of actual or potential value".
	DSI is not defined in the BBNJ Agreement. At the time of the adoption of the BBNJ Agreement, the definition of DSI was still under discussion in the context of negotiations under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on the sharing of benefits from the use of DSI on genetic resources from within national jurisdictions – both terrestrial and marine. At the 16th Conference of the Parties to the CBD, in Cali, Colombia, on 1 November 2024, the Conference adopted a Decision operationalising a multilateral mechanism for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of DSI, including the establishment of a global fund known as the Cali Fund1. That decision did not define DSI, and discussions to define DSI are ongoing at the CBD. Section 27(1) of the Act therefore provides the Secretary of State with a regulation-making power to define DSI (under the negative procedure). Regulations will be made under that power following Royal Assent and prior to ratification. Stakeholder engagement on the definition of DSI was conducted in Autumn/Winter 2025. The definition set out in the Regulations will serve as a provisional, domestically agreed definition, which may be revised and aligned with any future internationally agreed definition by way of future regulations under the power in Section 27(1).
	Part 2 of the Act sets out requirements on persons using UK craft to collect MGR in ABNJ. The relevant person in charge of the collection project has a duty to inform the BBNJ national focal point within FCDO pre-and post-collection of MGR, setting out specific information that is required to be provided under the BBNJ Agreement. The BBNJ national focal point, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, is responsible for submitting these notifications to the Clearing-House Mechanism established under the BBNJ Agreement.
	Where research on MGR results in the generation of DSI on those MGR, that DSI must be uploaded into a publicly accessible database. MGR collected from ABNJ must be held in a publicly accessible repository following utilisation.
	Part 2 of the Act also places a requirement on repositories and databases to ensure access to MGR of ABNJ and DSI on such MGR, subject to reasonable conditions. Repositories include collections such as those maintained by the Natural History Museum and the Discovery Collections maintained by the National Oceanography Centre. Reasonable conditions will be set out in guidance and could include biosecurity considerations, or a requirement that a certificate under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species is obtained before a specimen can be released. The Natural History Museum’s policy on outgoing research loans illustrates the kind of restrictions that were contemplated during the negotiation of the Agreement.2
	The Act also places a requirement for repositories holding MGR of ABNJ to produce an aggregate report on access to those MGR every two years. It also requires databases that contain DSI on MGR to produce an aggregate report on access every two years which will contain information on the number of times DSI has been downloaded from the database or viewed programmatically for any purpose.
	Part 2 of the Act provides for the Secretary of State to make regulations which may be necessary for implementing the UK’s obligations under Part II of the BBNJ Agreement relating to MGR.
	The Act also provides Scottish Ministers and the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs with concurrent powers to make regulations within devolved competence corresponding to the power to make provision granted to the Secretary of State. In addition, it places an obligation on the Secretary of State to consult Scottish Ministers and the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs before exercising their powers where regulations contain provision that fall within their respective legislative competence.
Part 1 and Part 2 – Introduction and Marine Genetic Resources Part 2: Marine Genetic Resources