Panama has been a part of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) since 1995 and in October 2014 it ratified the Nagoya Protocol. The country has established a legal framework regarding ABS. The Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama establishes that "the State shall regulate, supervise and timely apply the necessary measures to ensure that the use and exploitation of terrestrial, fluvial and marine fauna, as well as forests, lands and waters, is carried out rationally, so as to prevent its degradation and to ensure its preservation, renewal and permanence”. The Section of Access to Genetic and Biological Resources (SARGEB for its acronym in Spanish) of the Ministry of Environment is the national competent authority to regulate, control and administer the access and use of biological, genetic and derivative resources in general, except for the human species, while respecting intellectual property rights.