Government Launches Digital Portal for Issuance of Certificates of Origin for Cultivated Medicinal Plants

1. At a Glance

• National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has launched a digital portal (absefiling.nbaindia.in) for electronic issuance of Certificates of Origin for cultivated medicinal plants, enabling Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) exemptions [S1].
• Operationalises a key provision of the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act, 2023, which exempts users of cultivated medicinal plants from benefit-sharing obligations subject to a certificate of origin [S1][S2].
• Relevant for GS-III (Environment, Biodiversity) and GS-II (statutory bodies, governance/e-gov).

2. Why in the News

• On 5 February 2026, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) announced NBA's launch of the single-window online portal for Certificates of Origin [S1].
• Follows notification of Biological Diversity Rules in 2024 and 2025 by MoEFCC, completing the implementation architecture of the amended Act [S1].

3. Background & Evolution

• Biological Diversity Act, 2002 — enacted to give effect to India's obligations under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), 1992 and Nagoya Protocol, 2010 on ABS.
• NBA established 2003 at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, as a statutory body under the 2002 Act [S1].
• Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2023 — passed by Lok Sabha on 25 July 2023 and Rajya Sabha on 1 August 2023 [S1].
• Amendment Act notified to come into force on 1 April 2024 [S2].
• Biological Diversity Rules notified in 2024 and 2025 by MoEFCC [S1].
• 2026 portal launch — operationalises the certificate-of-origin mechanism [S1].

4. Core Static Facts

• Implementing body: National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), statutory body under MoEFCC, headquartered at Chennai [S1].
• Parent ministry: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change [S1].
• Enabling law: Biological Diversity Act, 2002, as amended by the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act, 2023 [S1][S2].
• Portal URL: https://absefiling.nbaindia.in [S1].
• Function: Single-window, end-to-end online processing of applications and issuance of Certificates of Origin for cultivated medicinal plants [S1].
• Issuing authority for certificate (statutory): Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) at local body level [S2].
• Three-tier institutional structure: NBA (national) → State Biodiversity Boards (state) → Biodiversity Management Committees (local).
• Beneficiaries of ABS exemption: AYUSH practitioners, vaids, hakims, growers/cultivators, users of codified traditional knowledge — limited to Indian entities [S2].
• Related NBA functions: publication of Internationally Recognized Certificate of Compliance (IRCC) and technical support for Biodiversity Heritage Sites [S1].

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

• Legal / Constitutional
• Operationalises Section 40 of the amended Act, which expands exemptions for Normally Traded as Commodities (NTAC) to include derivatives, agricultural wastes, and cultivated medicinal plants [S2].
• Aligns with Article 48A (DPSP — protection of environment) and Article 51A(g) (fundamental duty).
• Economic
• Reduces compliance burden on AYUSH industry and medicinal-plant cultivators by waiving benefit-sharing fees when origin is from cultivation, not wild collection [S2].
• Expected to incentivise commercial cultivation of medicinal plants and Atmanirbhar Bharat in herbal/AYUSH sector.
• Environmental
• Aims to shift demand pressure from wild harvesting to cultivated stock, reducing extraction from natural biodiversity [S2].
• Risk: weakens benefit-sharing flows to local communities (criticised during Bill scrutiny).
• Administrative / Governance (e-gov)
• Replaces manual filing with digital, single-window system, improving turnaround, traceability, transparency [S1].
• Strengthens federal coordination across NBA–SBB–BMC chain.
• Scientific / Technological
• Portal acts as a digital registry that can dovetail with traceability of biological resources and IRCC under the Nagoya Protocol [S1].

6. Recent Developments (last 12-18 months)

• 1 April 2024: Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act, 2023 brought into force [S2].
• 2024 & 2025: MoEFCC notified the Biological Diversity Rules in two tranches [S1].
• 5 February 2026: NBA launched and operationalised the absefiling.nbaindia.in digital portal for Certificates of Origin [S1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• NBA is a statutory body (not constitutional), under MoEFCC, headquartered in Chennai [S1].
• Portal launched: absefiling.nbaindia.in — for Certificates of Origin for cultivated medicinal plants [S1].
• Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2023 passed by Lok Sabha on 25 July 2023, Rajya Sabha on 1 August 2023 [S1].
• Amendment Act came into force on 1 April 2024 [S2].
• Certificate of Origin is to be obtained from the Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC), not directly from NBA [S2].
• ABS exemption for cultivated medicinal plants is restricted to Indian entities [S2].
• NBA publishes the Internationally Recognized Certificate of Compliance (IRCC) — linked to the Nagoya Protocol [S1].
• Parent Act is the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, enacted to implement the CBD, 1992.
• Three-tier structure: NBA – State Biodiversity Boards – Biodiversity Management Committees.
• Amended Section 40 expands NTAC exemptions to include derivatives, agricultural wastes, cultivated medicinal plants [S2].
• AYUSH vaids, hakims, registered practitioners are exempt from benefit-sharing for codified traditional knowledge [S2].
• MoEFCC notified Biological Diversity Rules in 2024 and 2025 [S1].

8. Mains Relevance

• GS-III: Conservation, environmental impact assessment, biodiversity; Indian economy — agriculture/AYUSH sector.
• GS-II: Statutory bodies; e-governance; Centre-State-local institutional mechanisms.
• Probable question stems: 1. "Examine how the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act, 2023 balances biodiversity conservation with the growth of the AYUSH and herbal-cultivation sector." 2. "Discuss the institutional architecture under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and assess recent digital governance reforms by the NBA." 3. "Critically evaluate the ABS exemption for cultivated medicinal plants in light of India's obligations under the Nagoya Protocol."

9. Related Topics to Study Next

• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), 1992 — parent international framework.
• Nagoya Protocol, 2010 — ABS regime, IRCC mechanism.
• National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) — under Ministry of AYUSH; cultivation promotion.
• Biodiversity Heritage Sites — notified by States with NBA technical support.
• People's Biodiversity Registers (PBRs) — maintained by BMCs.
• Forest Rights Act, 2006 & PESA, 1996 — community rights over bio-resources.
• TRIPS & traditional knowledge (TKDL) — biopiracy, patent protection.
• Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety — sister protocol under CBD.

10. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• NBA ≠ NMPB: NBA is under MoEFCC (Chennai); National Medicinal Plants Board is under Ministry of AYUSH (Delhi).
• Certificate of Origin is issued by BMC, not directly by NBA (NBA runs the digital platform) [S2].
• NBA is statutory, not constitutional or autonomous.
• Amendment Bill passed in 2023; came into force on 1 April 2024 — don't confuse the passage year with enforcement.
• ABS exemption for cultivated medicinal plants is only for Indian entities; foreign entities still require approval [S2].
• The parent international convention is CBD (1992), signed at the Rio Earth Summit, not at Nagoya — Nagoya is the 2010 ABS Protocol under CBD.

11. Sources

• [S1] Government Launches Digital Portal for Issuance of Certificates of Origin for Cultivated Medicinal Plants — https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2223522 — (tier: 1)
• [S2] Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act, 2023 — provisions on cultivated medicinal plants & ABS exemption (via web search summary, cross-checked against the eGazette notification at egazette.gov.in/WriteReadData/2023/247815.pdf) — (tier: 1)