The Biological Diversity Act 2002: Who May Take a Biological Resource

In one line

A foreigner needs the National Authority's approval, an Indian needs to tell the State Board, and a village practitioner needs neither.

In the wording a student can write in an exam: section 3(1) provides that no person referred to in sub-section (2) shall, without the previous approval of the National Biodiversity Authority, obtain any biological resource occurring in India or knowledge associated with it, for research, commercial utilisation, or bio-survey and bio-utilisation; and section 3(2) identifies those persons as a person who is not a citizen of India, a citizen who is a non-resident as defined in the Income-tax Act, and a body corporate, association or organisation not incorporated or registered in India, or incorporated in India but having any non-Indian participation in its share capital or management.

The definitions the Act turns on

Section 1 gives the short title, extends the Act to the whole of India, and allows different dates to be appointed for different provisions, a reference to the commencement of the Act in any provision being read as the coming into force of that provision.

"Biological diversity", section 2(b), means the variability among living organisms from all sources and the ecological complexes of which they are part, including diversity within species or between species and of ecosystems.

"Biological resources", section 2(c), include plants, animals, micro-organisms or parts of their genetic material and derivatives, excluding value added products, with actual or potential use or value for humanity, but do not include human genetic material.

"Access", section 2(a), means collecting, procuring or possessing any biological resource occurring in or obtained from India, or traditional knowledge associated with it, for research, bio-survey or commercial utilisation.

"Commercial utilisation", section 2(f), means end uses such as drugs, industrial enzymes, food flavours, fragrance, cosmetics, emulsifiers, oleoresins, colours, extracts and genes used for improving crops and livestock through genetic intervention, but does not include conventional breeding or traditional practices in use in agriculture, horticulture, poultry, dairy farming, animal husbandry or bee keeping.

That exclusion is the reason the Act does not fall on every Indian farmer, and it should be quoted whenever the question is who the Act binds.

"Benefit claimers", section 2(aa), are the conservers of biological resources, their by-products, the creators or holders of traditional knowledge associated with them, excluding codified traditional knowledge for Indians, and the holders of information relating to the use of such resources and the innovations and practices associated with that use.

"Sustainable use", section 2(o), means use of components of biological diversity in such manner and at such rate that does not lead to the long-term decline of the biological diversity, thereby maintaining its potential to meet the needs and aspirations of present and future generations. That is the Brundtland definition of sustainable development, written into an Indian statute for one resource.