The report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Chair: Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal) was tabled in Parliament. The Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha in December 2021.The Bill amends the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. The Act provides for the conservation of biodiversity and sharing of benefits from access to biodiversity and associated knowledge with local communities. Key observations and recommendations of the Committee are as follows:
▪ Codified traditional knowledge: The Bill exempts access to codified traditional knowledge from benefit-sharing provisions. However, it does not define the term ‘codified traditional knowledge’. The Committee observed that most of the traditional knowledge in the AYUSH system of medicine is codified. It also observed that traditional knowledge registered in the people biodiversity register may also be taken as codified. This may lead to denial of benefit to a majority of local traditional knowledge holders. The register is prepared by the local authorities to document biodiversity as per the provisions of the Act. The Committee recommended that the term be defined in the Bill. It should be defined as the knowledge derived from authoritative books specified in the First Schedule of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. The Schedule lists books on Ayurveda, Siddha, and other traditional medicine systems.
▪ Cultivated medicinal plants: The Bill exempts access to cultivated medicinal plants from benefitsharing provisions. It provides that the central government may prescribe a manner of issuing certification of origin for cultivated medicinal plants. The Committee recommended removing the rule-making power. It instead recommended providing further clarification regarding the issuance of the certificate in the Bill itself. The Bill should provide that a certificate of origin will be obtained through an entry into the books of the concerned local authorities.
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