Biodiversity Bill India, Biological Diversity, National Biodiversity Authority, State Biodiversity Board

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Biodiversity and its Conservation
Biodiversity and its Conservation Introduction
Current Levels of Biodiversity
Alpha (α) and Beta(β) Biodiversity
Extinction and Endangered Species
Reasons of Concern for Loss of Biodiversity
Ethical and Aesthetic Rewards
Economic Benefits
Essential Services Provided by Natural Ecosystems
Steps to Preserve Biodiversity
In Situ and Ex Situ Conservation Gene Banks
In Situ Conservation
Ex Situ Conservation
Ex Situ Conservation Efforts at International Level
Ex Situ Conservation Efforts by G-15 Countries
Ex Situ Conservation Efforts in USA

	Biodiversity Bill in India In the year 1998, Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) of the Government of India got a 'Biodiversity Bill' draft prepared, with an objective to regulate collection, documentation, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. The Bill was finally cleared from both the houses of Parliament in December 2002.
The Bill will be called the 'Biodiversity Bill 2002'. India is the first among the 12 mega-diversity countries, to develop such a legislation, which became necessary in view of the provisions of different international instruments including CBD, UPOV and TRIPS, to which India is a signatory (CBD was partly discussed in this chapter earlier, while TRIPS and UPOV are later discussed. It is believed that the above Bill will curb free access of foreigners (including multinational companies or MNCs, institutions and individuals) to the country's rich and diverse biological resources and will also discourage biopiracy of these resources. It will also ensure equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of biological resources and traditional knowledge. The Bill also provides necessary safeguards to protect the interest of the local people and farmers, who contributed to the generation of biological diversity and also that of the researchers in the country. The Bill also provides for recognition and protection of traditional knowledge associated with the use of, diverse biological resources and envisages that the benefits be given directly to groups or individuals, where biological resource or knowledge is directly accessed from them.
The Bill also seeks to create a three tier structure comprising of the following: (i) At the national level, a National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), will be set up at Chennai. The approval of this authority will be needed by any foreign company, entity or individual for obtaining any form of intellectual property rights (IPRs) on an invention based on a biological resource or traditional knowledge originating in India. NBA will also develop guidelines for granting this approval and for sharing benefits arising from such an invention. (ii) At the state: level, each state will constitute a State Biodiversity Board (SSB), which will have to be intimated by domestic firms, entities or individuals, of any commercial utilization of biological resources; however, they will, simply register and will not need th approval of NBA. The Bill exempts hakims, vaids and practitioners of Indian Systems of medicine from this obligation of intimating SSB for using the biological resources; the. practices that are currently in use in agriculture, poultry, animal husbandry and bee-keeping are also exempted, (iii) At the local level, each local body (Gram Panchayat or MandaI Panchayat) will constitute a Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC), which will maintain registers (called Peoples Diversity Register) of local resources and knowledge, and will also promote conservation, documentation and sustainable use of biological resources at the grass root level.
NBA would consult these BMC before granting permission to any foreign company or individual for the use of a biological resource falling within the jurisdiction of these BMCs. The Bill also provides for setting up of 'Biodiversity Funds' at the central, state and local levels, and defines the sources of funding, and the purposes, for which these funds will be used. The Bill also prescribes punishment for the offenders. For instance, anyone who takes away without due permission from NBA any biological resource from the country for research, commercial utilization or other purposes or seeks to get patents abroad on inventions based on biological resource of Indian origin would be liable for imprisonment of up to five years or a fine up to Rs 10 lakhs. A similar punishment is prescribed' for those, who without necessary permission from NBA, try to transfer abroad results of research conducted in the country on its biological resources. Offences under the Bill are cognizable and non-bailable.
	The Bill has also received some adverse comments. For instance, as discussed above, the Bill differentiates between domestic companies and the MNCs, although the provisions of TRIPS demand that MNCs be treated at par with domestic companies. The Bill may also adversely affect research, because the researchers from abroad may need approval of NBA and the domestic researchers may need to register with SSB for using the biological resources for research purposes. Several NGOs also criticized the Bill for keeping agrobiodiversity outside the purview of the Bill. Further the Bill does not seem to have an overall riding effect on the existing laws on wildlife and forests, and it is not clear which law will prevail, in case of a dispute.