Parliament Passes Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2023

Rajya Sabha passed the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2023 on Tuesday, it was already cleared by Lok Sabha on July 25. The Bill seeks to amend the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 .

The Law was enacted in 2002 with the aim to conserve biodiversity, promote the sustainable utilization of its elements, and ensure just and fair distribution of the advantages arising from the use of biological resources.

The amendment intends to encourage the Indian system of medicine, facilitate fast-tracking of research, patent application process and decriminalises all the offences under the Act.

It exempts AYUSH registered practitioners, local people and communities of the area, including growers and cultivators of biodiversity, from giving prior intimation to State biodiversity boards for accessing biological resources for commercial utilization.

The Act specifies that approval of National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) is required before applying for IPR involving biological resources obtained from India. However, the amendment changes the requirement and now the approval will be required before the actual grant of the IPR and not before the application.

The Bill decriminalises offences like failure to take approvals from the authorities for various activities which was punishable up to five years or a fine or both. However, now it will only be punishable with a penalty between Rs. 1 lakh and Rs. 50 lakh. The Bill adds that where the damage caused exceeds the amount of penalty, such penalty shall be commensurate with the damage caused, and in case, the failure or contravention continues, an additional penalty may be imposed, which shall not exceed Rs.1 Crore.

According to PRS, the 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 but the term ‘codified traditional knowledge’ is not defined in the Bill, which leads to ambiguity.

Click Here To Read The Bill