§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is Her Majesty's Government's policy in respect of(a) the agreement made at the UN environment programme conference in 1993 that a state has sovereignty over its flora and fauna and (b) whether this sovereignty extends to micro-organisms; and what steps Her Majesty's Government are taking to ensure the categorisation and identification of micro-organisms.
§ Mr. AtkinsThe United Kingdom has ratified the convention on biological diversity, which covers inter alia flora, fauna and micro-organisms. Article 3 of the convention recognises that states have, in accordance with the charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental policies.
In order to improve our knowledge of micro-organisms, research is in progress in subjects such as soil microbiology. The Office of Science and Technology commissioned an independent review of publicly funded microbial culture collections in the United Kingdom. The Government are currently considering its findings, which were published in November.