Is there any overlap between Biodiversity Bill and Plant Varieties Protection Act?
There is no overlap between Biodiversity Bill and Plant Varieties Protection (PVP) Act The scope and objectives of these two legislations are different The PVP legislation accords intellectual property rights to a person for developing a new plant variety On the other hand, the biodiversity legislation is primarily aimed at regulating access to biological resources and associated knowledge so as to ensure equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use In order to harmonise both the legislations, an exemption has been provided under Section 6(3) of the Biodiversity Bill for applicants seeking protection under the PVP Act. Why an exemption has been provided in Section 6(3) of the Biodiversity Bill for applicants seeking protection under the PVP Act. This has been done to harmonise the two legislations and to avoid overlap of procedural requirements. The purport of Section 6(3) is to ensure that before grant of IPRs, it becomes possible to realize equitable sharing of benefits arisi
