The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 is an Act enacted by the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the R ...

for the preservation of

biological diversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') lev ...

in India, and provides mechanism for equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of traditional biological resources and

knowledge Knowledge can be defined as awareness of facts or as practical skills, and may also refer to familiarity with objects or situations. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is often defined as true belief that is distinc ...

. The Act was enacted to meet the obligations under the

Convention on Biological Diversity The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its ...

(CBD), because India is a party of the convention .

History

The Act was enacted to meet the obligations under

(CBD), to which India is a part in 2002.

Biodiversity and Biological Resource

Biodiversity has been defined under Section 2(b) of the Act as "the variability among living organisms from all sources and the ecological complexes of which they are part, and includes diversity within species or between species and of

eco-system An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

s". The Act also defines, Biological resources as "plants, animals and

micro-organism A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...

s or parts thereof, their

genetic material Nucleic acids are biopolymers, macromolecules, essential to all known forms of life. They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomers made of three components: a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The two main cla ...

and by-products (excluding value added products) with actual or potential use or value, but does not include human genetic material."

National Biodiversity Authority and State Biodiversity Boards

The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) is a statutory autonomous body, headquartered in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, under the

Ministry of Environment and Forests The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an Indian government ministry. This ministry is headed by Secretary Rank senior most IAS officer. The ministry portfolio is currently held by Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister of ...

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

established in 2003 to implement the provisions under the Act. State Biodiversity Boards (SBB) has been created in 29 States along with 31,574 Biological management committees (for each local body) across India.

Functions

* Regulation of acts prohibited under the Act * Advise the Government on the conservation of biodiversity * Advise the Government on selection of biological heritage sites * Take appropriate steps to oppose the grant of intellectual property rights in foreign countries, arising from the use of biological resources or associated traditional knowledge.

Regulations

A foreigner, non-resident Indian, as defined in the clause (30) of section 2 of

The Income-tax Act, 1961 The Income-tax Act, 1961 is the charging statute of Income Tax in India. It provides for levy, administration, collection and recovery of Income Tax. The Government of India brought a draft statute called the "Direct Taxes Code" intended to rep ...

, or a foreign company or body corporate need to take permission from the NBA before obtaining any biological resources or associated knowledge from India for research, survey, commercial utilisation. Indian citizens or body corporates need to take permission from the concerned State Biodiversity Board. Result of research using biological resources from India cannot be transferred to a non-citizen or a foreign company without the permission of NBA. However, no such permission is needed for publication of the research in a journal or seminar, or in case of a collaborative research made by institutions approved by Central Government. No person should apply for patent or other form of

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

protection based on the research arising out of biological resources without the permission of the NBA. The NBA while granting such permission may make an order for benefit sharing or royalty based on utilisation of such protection.Section 6 of Biological Diversity Act, 2002

Benefit sharing

Benefit sharing out of usage of biological resources can be done in following manner: *Joint ownership of intellectual property rights 2 3 4 *Transfer of technology *Location of production, research development units in the area of source *Payment of monetary and non-monetary compensation *Setting up of venture capital fund for aiding the cause of benefit claimersSection 21(2) of Biological Diversity Act, 2002

Penalties

If a person, violates the regulatory provisions he/she will be "punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees and where the damage caused exceeds ten lakh rupees, fine may commensurate with the damage caused, or with both." Any offence under this Act is non-bailable and is cognizable.

References

{{reflist

External links

Biological Diversity Act, 2002National Biodiversity Authority
Acts of the Parliament of India 2002 2002 in the environment Environmental law in India Indian intellectual property law Traditional knowledge Biodiversity Convention on Biological Diversity