Debate over bio prospecting similar to debates over marine resource utilization in UNCLOS

The country with the most powerful biotech corporations has not ratified the CBD, as it has not yet ratified UNCLOS. One reason offered by the United States for refusing to sign in 1992 was that bio- prospecting contracts, such as the one between Merck and INBio in Costa Rica, would obviate the need for an international treaty. From this point of view, benefit sharing should be left up to individual contractors (corporate and community), not promoted by government interference (joint ventures). Others, even those involved in bio-prospecting, view an international treaty as a necessary guideline for the prospecting.⁷¹