Lok Sabha passes Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill 2021 amid protests

NEW DELHI: Amid the opposition’s protests on the recent violence in Manipur, Lok Sabha passed the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill 2021, by voice vote. The bill will amend the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, which provides for the conservation of biological diversity in the country and its sustainable use.

A few of the several criticisms of the Bill were that it promotes ‘ease of doing business’ and would exempt users of codified traditional knowledge and Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) practitioners from sharing benefits with local communities.

“In the 20 years since the act was brought into force by the Vajpayee government, we have seen that there were problems and it was necessary to address them,” said Bhupendra Yadav, Minister for Environment and Forests and Climate Change, Government of India, in the Lok Sabha.

He further added, “To ensure that tribes and vulnerable communities benefit from the proceeds of medicinal forest products, these amendments were necessary.  By decriminalizing certain activities, we are encouraging Ayurveda as well as ease of doing business.”  

Environmental organisations such as Legal Initiative for Forests and Environment (LIFE) have said that the amendments were made to “solely benefit” the AYUSH Ministry and would pave the way for “bio piracy.” The modifications would exempt AYUSH manufacturing companies from needing approvals from the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and thus will go against one of the core provisions of the Act.

According to the Bill, a person can neither share nor transfer any result of the research on any biological resource occurring in or obtained/accessed from India or associated traditional knowledge for monetary consideration or otherwise, to an individual without the prior written approval from the National Biodiversity Authority, except the codified traditional knowledge- which is only for Indians.

Additionally, it allows domestic companies to use biodiversity without permission from biodiversity boards. As per the amendments, only foreign-controlled companies will require permission. This indicates companies with shares controlled by foreign companies would also be exempted.

One of the concerns raised by experts about the Bill was decriminalizing offences under the Act and making them punishable only with a penalty (between ₹1 lakh and ₹50 lakh, continuing violations can attract an additional penalty of up to ₹1 crore) and no imprisonment. The committee merely observed that the penalty structure should not be too meager as it could enable violators to escape with a small fine. It recommended that the penalty should be proportionate to the gains obtained by entities and the size of the company.

The Biological Diversity Act of 2002 was framed to give effect to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), 1992, which strives for sustainable, fair, and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilisation of biological resources and associated traditional knowledge. To do this, it formulates a three-tier structure consisting of a National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) at the national level, State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) at the state level, and Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) at local body levels. The primary responsibility of the BMCs is to document local biodiversity and associated knowledge in the form of a People’s Biodiversity Register.