Czech MPs approve EU rules for use of genetic resources

The Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Czech parliament, on Friday approved a government bill tightening the rules for the use of genetic resources in harmony with the EU regulation. The Senate, the upper house, is now to assess the bill. The new legislation modifies the rules for including collections of genetic resources into the EU register administered by the European Commission. The Environment Ministry is to assess it and the Czech Environmental Inspection (CIZP) is to check the observance of the conditions of the access to genetic resources. It would impose fines of up to 50,000 crowns (EUR 1,970) for their violation, while the money would go to the State Environmental Fund, under the bill. It defines a genetic resource as "any material of vegetal, animal or microbial origin that contains functional heredity units and that is important for man because of its further use."