Commercial users, such as manufacturers of biological resource-based drugs, industrial enzymes, food flavours, fragrances, cosmetic emulsifiers, oleoresins, colour extrats, and traders of biological resources used in the manufacturing of the above products, must now share a percentage of the profit revenue with SBB, and the ABS amount must be used for biological resource conservation and promotion, according to environment minister Manas Bhunia.
The state government will now compel Bengal’s 400 pharmaceutical enterprises to seek formal authorization and share the benefits of the natural resources they use to manufacture medicinal items. The Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) provisions of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 require commercial users of biological resources to share benefits deriving from such activities with the state biodiversity board (SBB).
Commercial users, such as manufacturers of biological resource-based drugs, industrial enzymes, food flavours, fragrances, cosmetic emulsifiers, oleoresins, colour extrats, and traders of biological resources used in the manufacturing of the aforementioned products, must now share a percentage of profit revenue with SBB, and the ABS amount must be used for biological resource conservation and promotion, according to environment minister Manas Bhunia.
Each of these 400 participants must notify the SBB of the biological resources and traditional knowledge that they want to exploit for commercial purposes. Anybody who violates the act’s provisions faces a three-year jail sentence and a Rs 5 lakh fine.
