With the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF)'s recent notification on access to biological resources and benefits sharing (ABS) effective from November 21, 2014, the Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) has served notices to 800 ayurvedic manufacturers in the state asking them for compliance to Biological Diversity (BD) Act, 2002 for sustainable use of bio-resources.

The notified ABS guidelines will now allow and empower respective state biodiversity boards to determine the amount of benefit sharing to be given by Ayush manufacturers to the state exchequer. The ABS guidelines which took the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) six years to notify the rules mandates collection from domestic and foreign companies 0.1-1 per cent of their ex-factory gross sales of products using biological resources and traditional knowledge.

Dr K P Laladhas, member secretary, KSBB, says, "We are taking forward the process of compliance with the notification on ABS in a consultative manner. We have held meetings recently on the same with the ayurvedic manufacturers association to sensitise them on the compliance."

However, an official associated with the development points out that guidelines if not implemented would lead to a revenue loss to the respective boards to the tune of Rs.10,000 crore annually and even more. NBA may alone have to bear a loss of Rs.5,000 crore annually.

The Environment Ministry had recently sent letters to all the state governments for speedy implementation of the uniform national level notified ABS guidelines. Under the Biodiversity Act, foreign companies require NBA’s prior approval to access India’s biological resources and traditional knowledge. Domestic companies do not need prior approval but must intimate the state biodiversity board concerned.

Guidelines on ABS have been held back in the past 10 years due to pressure from powerful industry lobbies during successive government regimes as it helped save companies thousands of crores of rupees that they would have to shell out as royalties every year. The notified ABS guidelines is the outcome of a high powered committee set up by the NBA recently which approved and sent the guidelines to the MoEF for notification in the official gazette.

According to Section 7 and 24(2) of the BD Act, manufacturers extracting plant-based material for commercial purpose without intimation to state biodiversity board are liable under Section 55(2) of the Act and shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend up to three years with fine or five years with fine or both.

State biodiversity boards hail the notification as a welcome change as it notifies uniform rules thus allowing them to collect from domestic and foreign companies a certain percentage of their ex-factory gross sales of products using biological resources and traditional knowledge.

According to experts, states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, West Bengal and Maharashtra are among the few state boards who have initiated the process to implement Biological Diversity Act, 2002 towards sustainable use of bio-resources and benefit sharing.