The Hindu Business Line : Bio-diversity Bill: Choking bio-piracy or research?

A GLOBAL pharma company official taking the extract of an indigenous herb out of India, in a little bottle tucked away in his suitcase, may sound straight out of the latest James Bond film.

But, it is this kind of bio-piracy that the recent Bio-Diversity Bill 2002 seeks to nip in the bud, considering that a single extract taken out of India, when run through a hi-tech screening process could deliver up to 50-plus leads, in eight hours flat. And these leads, originating from sources in India, can be translated into commercial medicines, patented abroad.

From pharma to personal-care companies and food to FMCG, all stand to have their operations and research impacted by this Bill. Be it a Dabur or Zandu with grounding in traditional systems of medicine, allopathic-major Ranbaxy, looking at the bio-tech segment, FMCG-giant Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) with its herbal `Ayush' range, herbal healthcare company Himalaya, bio-tech firms, Germany's homeopathic giant Schwabe et al.

"Every company that uses herbs or biological resources, will be reading with a fine-comb the rules that Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) is yet to notify. The rules crystallise implementation of the Bill, thus defining whether it would choke bio-piracy or stifle research in the process," opine representatives of industry and non-governmental organisations.

Dr D.B. Anantha Narayana, Director, Dabur Research Foundation, told Business Line that the MoEF's rules would define issues like procurement of herbs.

"Industry would have some breathing space, if the rules do not cover herbs being traded at the mandis and the endangered herbs featuring in the Director-General of Foreign Trade's (DGFT) negative list. But if all commercial access by domestic companies require permission from state authorities, there could be implementation problems," he adds.

The Bill regulates access to genetic resources and associated knowledge by foreign individuals and institutions and seeks to ensure sharing of benefits arising out of the use of resources and knowledge with the country and its people.

It envisages a three-tier structure comprising the National Bio-diversity Authority (NBA), State Bio-diversity Boards (SBB) and Bio-diversity Management Committees (BMC) to regulate access to the diverse plant and animal genetic resources in the country.

NBA's approval would be required before intellectual property rights (IPR) are obtained on an invention based on a biological resource from India or on a traditional knowledge. NBA will deal with all cases of access by foreigners.

Ranbaxy's Senior-Vice-President, Mr B.K. Raizada, says that by differentiating between domestic firms and MNCs, the Bill has walked into the global trap of whether the Convention on Biological Diversity was superior to TRIPS. The latter treats MNCs on par with domestic firms.

"All industrial activity from food to pharma will depend on the rules to be notified," he adds.

Dr Suman Sahai, President, Gene Campaign, feels the Bill would not thwart bio-piracy, but would "choke research" instead. "The rules need to be drafted very carefully, as it would address grey-areas like benefit-sharing and IPR. The rules on commercialisation of indigenous knowledge should be pro-community."

Allaying fears of tardy implementation, MoEF officials say: "Domestic companies will only have to register with authorities, while MNCs will go through the NBA. No payment is involved and benefit-sharing will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis."

Hakims, Vaids breathe easy!

AGAINST this backdrop, the only segment breathing easy are `hakims', `vaids' and other practitioners of Indian Systems of Medicine.

While MNCs and domestic companies need permissions and registrations, the Bill exempts traditional practitioners from any such bureaucratic hassle!

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