Section 13 subsection (1) sets out the requirement for the Secretary of State to publish guidance about the requirements imposed by or under Part 2 of the Act. The guidance will be prepared and published by the BBNJ national focal point. In preparing the guidance, particular attention will be paid to illustrative examples that support individuals and organisations in understanding how and when the obligations may apply to them.
	Section 13 subsection (2)(a) requires the Secretary of State to keep the guidance under review. Section 13 subsection (2)(b) confirms that the Secretary of State may revise the guidance, and Section 13 subsection (2)(c) obliges the Secretary of State to publish any revised guidance.
	Section 13 subsection (3) requires the Secretary of State to have regard to the importance of giving effect to the Agreement in preparing and revising any guidance. This provision will be particularly important once the BBNJ Agreement enters into force and the access and benefit-sharing committee established under Article 15 starts its work. One of the issues on which the access and benefit-sharing committee may provide recommendations to the Conference of the Parties under Article 15(3)(a) is:
"Guidelines or a code of conduct for activities with respect to marine genetic resources and digital sequence information on marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction in accordance with this Part;".
	Should the access and benefit-sharing committee not make recommendations in accordance with Article 15(3)(a), there are still a number of issues, including how the Clearing-House Mechanism will operate in practice, that have yet to be settled at the international level. Decisions taken by the Conference of the Parties in putting the Agreement into operation may lead to a need to revise the guidance published in accordance with Section 13.
	Section 13 subsection (4) requires the Secretary of State to lay the guidance and any revised guidance before Parliament.
Part 2 – Marine Genetic Resources Section 13: Guidance