The Federal National Council (FNC) has approved a new federal law on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, introducing strict penalties of up to three years’ imprisonment and fines ranging from Dh50,000 to Dh3 million for violations, alongside plans to establish national gene banks to safeguard agricultural biodiversity. The legislation, aims to regulate the collection, use, import and export of plant genetic resources and their derivatives, and to ensure their sustainable management in line with international agreements. Under the new law, offenders who conduct related activities without a licence, export or import genetic materials without authorised agreements, fail to declare them at customs, or collect genetic resources from natural sites without.
