Following National Green Tribunal (NGT) directive to Madhya Pradesh State Biodiversity Board (MPSBB) to issue fresh notices to over 500 Ayush companies asking them for compliance to Biological Diversity (BD) Act, 2002 based on a recent notification on access to biological resources and benefits sharing (ABS), the MPSBB has formed a committee to look into the matter and expedite the process.

Many states in India are still lagging behind in complying with the recently notified ABS guidelines in the absence of which no action could be taken against the defaulting companies until recently, informed an official associated with the development.

The notification which has been in effect from November 21, 2014 states that when the biological resources are accessed for commercial utilisation or the bio-survey and bio-utilisation leads to commercial utilisation, the applicant shall have the option to pay the benefit sharing ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 per cent at the following graded percentages of the annual gross ex-factory sale of the product which shall be worked out based on the annual gross ex-factory sale minus government taxes.

NGT which was until now awaiting a clear-cut and well-defined guidelines on ABS gave a hearing to the concerned cases recently.

Cases of litigations were pending with the NGT's Bhopal bench of Madhya Pradesh (MP) and in various benches of High Court of MP. In 2012, companies had moved to courts when MPSBB asked them to deposit the stipulated amount on benefit sharing as per the Biological Diversity Act.

The recent notification on ABS empowers respective state biodiversity boards to determine the amount of benefit sharing to be given by Ayush manufacturers to the state exchequer.

State biodiversity boards have hailed the notification as a welcome change as it will notify 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.

As per the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, Ayush manufacturer has the responsibility to share details of the source from where the raw material has been procured and also a certain percentage of the revenue generated out of the production for its sustainable use.

While Uttarakhand State Biodiversity Board (USBB), Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) and Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board (MSBB) have started sensitising Ayush manufacturers on access and benefit sharing for sustainable use of bio-resources as per the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, Gujarat State Biodiversity Board (GSBB) is also in the process of scrutinising applications based on the notices served for compliance to the Act.

According to Section 7 and 24 (2) of the Act, organisations 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.

Till date, over 34,000 Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) and 28 State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) have been set up under Section 22 (2) of the Act across the country. Local bodies have constituted the BMCs in respective states as per Section 41 of the Act. BMCs also prepare, maintain and validate People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) in consultation with the local people. PBR gives information about the details of biological resources and traditional knowledge.