Modern Biopiracy Cases
India's biodiversity and farmers'-rights laws
2001-2002Parliament of IndiaPPV&FR Act (2001); Biological Diversity Act (2002)Pan-Indian / unspecified
2001
Laws protecting plant varieties, farmers' rights and access to biological resources.
- Dated
- 2001–2002
- As scholars put it
- 2001-2002
- Originator
- Parliament of India
- Source text
- PPV&FR Act (2001); Biological Diversity Act (2002)
- Region
- Pan-Indian / unspecified
- Discipline
- Modern Biopiracy Cases
- Evidence
- Documented
- Confidence
- High
- Verification
- Reference-cited
Background
The 1994 TRIPS Agreement required WTO members to protect plant varieties by patents or an effective sui generis system, and the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity affirmed national sovereignty over biological resources. India responded with the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act (2001) and the Biological Diversity Act (2002).
Significance
The 2001 Act was among the first laws anywhere to give farmers rights alongside plant breeders, including the right to save, use, sow and sell farm-saved seed. The 2002 Act requires approval from the National Biodiversity Authority, and benefit sharing, before Indian biological resources or associated knowledge are used commercially.
Fair to say
Implementation has been uneven.
Path to modern innovation
A legal shield against biopiracy.
Global impact
- India's access-and-benefit-sharing system preceded the Nagoya Protocol (2010), which set international rules on the same principle; India ratified it in 2012.
References
- 1Statutes
Further reading
Related
Corrections and additional sources: edit IND-372 on GitHub.