The National Biodiversity Authority invites comments on draft amendments

(i)International Regime on Access and Benefit Sharing;
(ii)Evolving sui generis system for the protection of Traditional Knowledge; &
(iii)Amendments to the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and Biological Diversity Rules, 2004.

The public notice along with the relevant reference material can be accessed here.

I use the words ‘delightfully public notice’ because in sharp contrast to the procedure followed by the Rajya Sabha Standing Committee on the Indian version of Bayh Dole Act, the NBA has not only published the public notice on its website it has also published advertisements in the newspapers inviting the public to send their comments before the 15th of February, 2010.

This move could not have come at a more opportune time especially since India seeks to take the lead in negotiating a new international protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing.

A quick look at ‘The Protection, Conservation and Effective Management of Traditional Knowledge relating to Biological Diversity Rule, 2009’ reveal an ambitious and equitable agenda. The Rules aim to establish an access and benefit sharing regime which will be based on the prinicples of prior-informed consent of the community holding the traditional knowledge in question.

Most interestingly the definition of ‘traditional knowledge’ in the rules is impressively broad – “Traditional Knowledge” means the collective knowledge of a traditional community including of a group of families, on a particular subject or a skill and passed down from generation to generation, either orally or in written form, relating to properties, uses and characteristics of plant and animal genetic resources; agricultural and healthcare practices, food preservation and processing techniques and devices developed from traditional materials; cultural expressions, products and practices such as weaving patterns, colors, dyes, pottery, painting, poetry, folklore, dance and music; and all other products or processes discovered through a community process including by a member of the community individually but for the common use of the community;”

I’m a little intrigued as to the inclusion of ‘cultural expressions such as poetry, folkore, dance and music’ into the rules of a legislation which aims to protect the biological diversity of the country.