Sections 5 and 6 of the Act give effect to obligations related to repositories and databases in Part II of the BBNJ Agreement. These obligations are designed to ensure the sharing of benefits through access to MGR of ABNJ and DSI on such MGR. The collection of MGR in ABNJ is mostly undertaken from research vessels and is a very costly undertaking. Enhancing access to MGR of ABNJ and DSI generated on those MGR is an important element of benefit sharing.
	Section 5 subsection (1) confirms that the provisions of Section 5 apply to repositories in the UK in which samples of MGR of ABNJ are stored. The main repositories of MGR of ABNJ in the UK are the Natural History Museum (NHM) and the National Oceanography Centre’s (NOC) Discovery Collection. Museums are common repositories of MGR including the National Museum Scotland, National Museum Cardiff, University of Cambridge Museums, and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. The Scottish Association of Marine Science is a major repository of MGR in Scotland. Universities with a focus on marine biology are also repositories of MGR from ABNJ, such as Aberdeen, Bangor, Edinburgh, Essex, Liverpool (although most is sent to the NOC Discovery Collection), Newcastle, Oban (although most goes to National Museum Scotland), Plymouth, and Strathclyde.
	Section 5 subsection (2) places obligations on the person who controls the repository with respect to the management of the samples of MGR of ABNJ and implements the provisions of Articles 12(6) and (7) and Article 14 (2)(a) of the BBNJ Agreement.
	Section 5 subsection (2)(a) requires the person who controls the repository to ensure that so far as reasonably practicable (i) the samples can be identified as originating from ABNJ and (ii) they can be identified by reference to an Article 12(3) identifier if one has been generated that applies to that sample. The term "Article 12(3) identifier" is defined in Section 27. It is considered best practice by the international scientific community for researchers to deposit MGR collected during marine scientific research in repositories such as the collections of museums or other scientific, research, and educational institutions with adequate infrastructure and funding to manage and curate them long-term. New samples being deposited in the largest repositories in the UK of MGR from ABNJ, the Discovery Collection at NOC and the NHM, are geolocated and labelled as part of current best practice. This requirement ensures that repositories can comply with the obligation to report on access to MGR in accordance with Article 12(7) as set out in Section 5 subsection (2)(c).
	Section 5 subsection (2)(b) requires the person with control over the repository to ensure access to the samples for the purposes of utilisation. "Access" in the context of repositories of MGR from ABNJ means making a sample physically available to another natural or juridical person for the purposes of utilisation as defined in Section 27 subsection (1). Reasonable conditions can be placed on access as set out in Section 7(1). Repositories such as the NOC Discovery Collection and the NHM already make samples accessible to researchers through in-person visits to the repositories or loan agreements, subject to reasonable conditions.
	Section 5 subsection (2)(c) implements the obligation set out in Article 12(7) with respect to repositories. Article 12(7) states:
"Parties shall ensure that repositories, to the extent practicable, and databases under their jurisdiction prepare, on a biennial basis, an aggregate report on access to marine genetic resources and digital sequence information linked to their "BBNJ" standardized identifier, and make the report available to the access and benefit-sharing committee established under article 15."
	The policy intention behind this reporting requirement in the BBNJ Agreement is to provide the access and benefit-sharing committee with information on which to base their recommendations to the Conference of the Parties on the operation of the benefit sharing obligations in the Agreement.
	Section 5 subsection (2)(c) requires that every two years the person who controls the repository provides the Secretary of State with a report setting out, so far as reasonably practicable, the number of times access to samples has been provided for the purpose of utilisation. Section 7 subsections (2) and (3) expand on the timing of these reports. The obligation on repositories is limited to requests for access for utilisation within the definition provided in Section 27 subsection (1). This is because repositories record the reasons for loans from their collections, which can include utilisation but also could be for purposes such as display in an exhibition, which would not fall within this reporting requirement.
	Section 5 subsection (3) implements the obligation in Article 12(7) that the report must identify the samples by reference to their BBNJ batch identifier.
Part 2 – Marine Genetic Resources Section 5: Repositories