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Legislative, Administrative or Policy Measure
(MSR)
last updated: 11 Feb 2026
The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act, 2023.
Legally binding
01 Apr 2024
Law
Yes
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ABSCH-MSR-IN-202011-1 Legislative, Administrative or Policy Measure The Biological Diversity Act, 2002
- An Act to provide for conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use of biological resources, knowledge and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
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The Act regulates the access to biological resources occurring in, or obtained from, India and knowledge associated thereto for research or for commercial utilization or for bio-survey and bio-utilization.
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It also regulates transferring the results of any research relating to biological resource, transferring any biological resource and/ or associated knowledge to a third party, and any person seeking Intellectual Property Rights in or outside India by granting prior approval.
Salient features of the Amendments are given below:
- Inclusion of new definitions for Access, Codified Traditional Knowledge, Derivative, India Territory.
- A few existing definitions have been modified – Benefit claimers, Biological Diversity and Biological Resources.
- To bring uniformity with the Companies Act 2013, the definition of foreign entities has been changed as per Section 2(27) of the Companies Act 2013 [Section 3(2)(c)(ii)]
- A simplified procedure has been introduced in the form of registration for Indians before obtaining patents. [Section 6(1A)]
- Introduced new Section 36(A), which provides Monitoring and Regulating access and utilisation of the Biological Resources obtained from foreign countries for use in India as per the provisions of the Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit sharing.
- Section 36(B), which is newly introduced, enables the state governments to develop strategies and plans for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.
- To promote trade, reduce the pressure on wild biological resources, and simplify access, Section 40 has been amended to facilitate the access of cultivated medicinal plants, agricultural waste and other species, as notified by the Central Government.
- Section 55A provides for the appointment of an Adjudication Officer by the Central Government to impose penalties for the contravention of sections 3, 4, 6 and 7 of the Act.
- All offences have been made as civil offences instead of criminal offences and Section 55 of the Act provides for imposing a maximum penalty of INR 1.00 Crore and shall also need to be commensurate with the damage caused.
- As per section 27 of the Act, the Benefit-sharing amount will be shared with the benefit claimers as well as for the socio-economic development of the area where such biological resources or traditional knowledge have been accessed and if benefit claimers are not identified, such benefit sharing amount will be channelised for the socio-economic development of the area where such biological resources occur.
Competent National Authority:National Biodiversity Authority ()5th Floor, TICEL Biopark, CSIR Road, TaramaniChennai, Tamilnadu
600 113,Phone: +91 44 2254 2777,Fax: +91 44 2254 1200,Website: http://www.nbaindia.org,
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ABSCH-MSR-IN-283012-1 Legislative, Administrative or Policy Measure Biological Diversity Rules, 2024
- To operationalise the Biological Diversity Act 2002 as amended in 2023, including laying down the procedure and guidelines to govern the activities for access to biological resources, including Digital Sequence Information, occurring in or obtained from India and knowledge associated thereto (Section 3 of the Act), share or transfer of Research Results(Section 4 of the Act), and obtaining prior approval of NBA before grant of IP rights (Section 6 of the Act).
- These Rules provide for procedures, new application forms and application fees for seeking approval from the NBA to undertake the activities envisaged in the Act.
- It also prescribes procedures for monitoring and regulating the use of biological resources or associated traditional knowledge obtained from any foreign country in India ( user Country measures under Articles 15, 16 & 17 of the Nagoya Protocol on ABS).
- A procedure for conducting non-commercial research or research for emergency purposes outside India by an Indian researcher or institution has also been provided.
- Manner of inquiry by the Adjudicating Officer on the contravention of Sections 3, 4, 6 and 7 of the Act and imposing penalty thereof has also been prescribed.
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1. The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act, 2023 made amendments to the certain provisions of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. The users needs to refer both Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act, 2023.
2. For accuracy, it is recommended that the reader should refer to the provisions of the Amended Act as notified in the Government of India’s Gazette (Notification No: CG-DL-E-03082023-247815 dated 03.08.2023 & Corrigendum-of-Biological-Diversity-Amendment-Act-2023 dated 09.08.2023)
2. For accuracy, it is recommended that the reader should refer to the provisions of the Amended Act as notified in the Government of India’s Gazette (Notification No: CG-DL-E-03082023-247815 dated 03.08.2023 & Corrigendum-of-Biological-Diversity-Amendment-Act-2023 dated 09.08.2023)
| Record type | Field | Record(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legislative, Administrative or Policy Measure | Relationship with other measures | 2 | |
| Legislative, Administrative or Policy Measure | List of amended measures | 1 | |
