Lok Sabha passes contentious Biological Diversity Bill amid din

Source: The post is based on the article “Lok Sabha passes contentious Biological Diversity Bill amid din”  published in The Hindu on 26th July 2023

What is the News?

Lok Sabha has passed the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

What is the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021?

The Bill amends the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 to simplify compliance requirements for domestic companies.

Key Provisions of the Bill:

The Bill exempts registered AYUSH medical practitioners and people accessing codified traditional knowledge among others from giving prior intimation to State biodiversity Boards to access biological resources for certain purposes.

The Bill removes research and bio-survey activities from the purview of benefit sharing requirements.

Benefit sharing will be based on terms agreed between the user and the local management committee represented by the National Authority.

The bill decriminalizes a range of offences under the Act and substitutes them with monetary penalties.

What are the concerns with the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021?

Firstly, the term codified traditional knowledge has not been defined. A broad interpretation might exempt all local traditional knowledge from benefit sharing requirements.

Secondly,  Environmental organizations such as Legal Initiative for Forests and Environment (LIFE) have said that the amendments were made to “solely benefit” AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) firms and would pave the way for “bio piracy”.

Thirdly, the Bill decriminalizes offences under the Act and instead provides for a wide range of penalties. Further, the Bill empowers government officials to hold inquiries and determine penalties. It may be questioned whether it is appropriate to confer such discretion to government officials.