Explain the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) mechanism under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. How does it operationalise India's commitments under the Nagoya Protocol?

Fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources is the third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity. India gives it domestic statutory form through the ABS mechanism of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 — converting commercial access to biodiversity into a funding stream for its conservators.

ABS mechanism under the Act

• Regulated access: foreign citizens, non-resident Indians and foreign-controlled companies must obtain prior approval of the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) before accessing biological resources or associated knowledge for research or commercial utilisation; Indian entities intimate the State Biodiversity Board (SBB) [1].
• Statutory benefit-sharing: Section 21 empowers the NBA to grant approval only on terms securing equitable benefit sharing — royalties, monetary payments, joint IPR ownership or technology transfer [1].
• Three-tier architecture: NBA (statutory body under Section 8, headquartered at Chennai) → SBBs/UT Biodiversity Councils → Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) at local-body level [1].
• Fund utilisation: collections are routed to SBBs/UTBCs in proportion to the source of the resource, for People's Biodiversity Registers, in-situ and ex-situ conservation and Biodiversity Heritage Sites [2].
• Demonstrated scale: over Rs. 266 crore mobilised and about Rs. 145 crore disbursed, reaching 10,500+ BMCs across 23 States and 4 UTs, with Red Sanders, the seed sector and pharma-AYUSH the largest contributors [3].

Operationalising the Nagoya Protocol

• Prior Informed Consent (Art. 6) is realised through the NBA/SBB approval requirement [1][4].
• Mutually Agreed Terms (Art. 5) are embodied in Section 21 benefit-sharing agreements [1][4].
• Traditional knowledge of communities (Art. 7) is documented and protected via BMCs and People's Biodiversity Registers [2][4].
• Compliance and monitoring (Art. 15–17) rest with the NBA as India's competent national authority, backed by penal provisions [1][4].

Thus ABS is not merely a revenue device but a conservation incentive that makes biodiversity pay for its own protection. Strengthening BMC capacity, faster disbursal and wider registration of users would deepen it — advancing SDG 15 and the constitutional mandate of Article 48A.