BIODIVERSITY LAW

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Context

• Recently, Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021, was introduced in the Parliament. The seeks to amend the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 to simply compliance requirements for domestic companies.
• Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh raised concern over the exemption given to AYUSH practitioners as per the new amendment bill.

 

About biodiversity?

• Biodiversity refers to the variety of life forms that exist on the planet. Human activities on the planet have created challenges for biodiversity such as loss of habitat, deterioration of ecological systems, and extinction or threat of extinction for species.

 

Key features of the bill

• The Act requires prior approval or intimation to the regulatory authority based on the origin of the entity for obtaining biological resources occurring in India or associated knowledge.
• The regulatory authorities under the Act for these purposes are National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and State Biodiversity Boards (SBB).

The Biological Diversity Act, 2002

Changes made by the Bill

Approval is required from NBA (for certain foreign entities) ·        Entities: (i) foreign individuals, (ii) non-resident Indians, (iii) companies not registered in India, and (iv) companies registered in India and having non-Indian participation in share capital or management ·        Activities: obtaining biological resources occurring in India or associated knowledge for: (i) research, (ii) commercial utilisation, or (iii) bio-survey and bio-utilisation Prior intimation required to SBB (for certain domestic entities) ·        Entities: (i) Indian citizens, and (ii) companies registered in India except those which require NBA approval ·        Activities: obtaining biological resources occurring in India for commercial utilisation ·        Exemptions: use by local people and communities including growers and cultivators of biodiversity, and vaids and hakims practising indigenous medicine

Approval from NBA ·        Entities: changes the last category to companies registered in India which are “foreign-controlled” companies as under the Companies Act, 2013 Prior intimation to SBB ·        Activities: access to associated knowledge for commercial utilisation will also require prior intimation ·        Exemptions: adds exemptions for (i) codified traditional knowledge, (ii) cultivated medicinal plants and their products, (iii) AYUSH practitioners; limits the exception to vaids and hakims, and AYUSH practitioners to use for sustenance and livelihood

 

• The amendments also streamline the process of Patenting for Indian researchers to encourage patenting. For this, regional patenting centres will be opened across the country.
• It seeks to give a fillip to the “Indian system of medicine”, and facilitate fast-tracking of research, the patent application process, and transfer of research results while utilising the biological resources available in India.
• It seeks to decriminalise certain provisions in the chain of biological resources. These changes were brought in consonance with India’s ratification of the Nagoya Protocol (access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilisation) in 2012.
• The Bill seeks to exempt registered AYUSH medical practitioners and people accessing codified traditional knowledge, among others, from giving prior intimation to State biodiversity boards for accessing biological resources for certain purposes.

 

Key Issues

• Codified traditional knowledge: The 2002 Act requires users of biological resources and associated knowledge to share benefits with local communities. The Bill exempts users of “codified traditional knowledge” from this requirement.
  • The Bill has not defined the term ‘codified traditional knowledge’.
• Local communities: The Act states that while granting approvals for various activities, National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) will determine terms for benefit sharing. Such approval should be by the mutually agreed terms between the applicant, concerned local bodies, and benefit claimers.
  • The Bill removes the direct role of local bodies and benefits claimers in determining mutually agreed terms.
• Offences and penalties: Under the Act, offences are punishable with imprisonment of up to five years or a fine, or both.
  • The Bill decriminalises the offences and makes them punishable with a penalty.
  • There is no guidance to the adjudicating officer on how to assess the penalty within the one lakh rupees and one crore rupees range.
• Bio-piracy: The exemptions to AYUSH Practitioners no longer need to take approvals, which would pave the way for “biopiracy”.
  • Biopiracy is the practice of exploiting naturally occurring genetic or biochemical material in commerce.

 

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