“Implementation of Biological Diversity Act - With Specific Reference to Traditional Knowledge”

Abstract

The Biological Diversity Act was legislated in 2002 for the national implementation of the Convention Biological Diversity which was ratified by India in 1994. This law, in line with the CBD, has the triple objectives of conservation, sustainable use and equitable benefit sharing although in its operative parts it deals mainly with issues related to access and benefit sharing. Although India has been a victim of biopiracy for long it took India almost a decade after ratifying CBD to create this law to check biopiracy. Although the Act fails to make a categorical assertion of nation sovereignty over biodiversity, it prohibits access to biodiversity for non-nationals and other foreign entities without the prior permission of the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) (Section 3) established by this Act. The Act also requires any access to biodiversity and related knowledge to be subject mutually agreed terms based on equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the commercial use of the accessed biodiversity (Section 21). It also requires that research results pertaining to biodiversity shall not be transferred abroad without the prior approval of NBA, publication in scientific journals and presentations in seminars are exempted (Section 4). The Act also stipulates that patent right on inventions based on biodiversity obtained from India can be claimed only after obtaining the prior approval of NBA (Section 6.1). Indian citizens and entities can access biodiversity for commercial use or undertake bio-survey for commercial utilisation only after giving prior intimation to concerned State Biodiversity Board (SBB), vaids and hakims are exempted (