Around 155 Ayush cos registered with MSBB towards ABS compliance

Around 155 Ayush companies have registered with Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board to share details of the bio-resources procured for commercial utilisation based on 600 notices served by MSBB.
As per the Biological Diversity (BD) Act, 2002, manufacturers are accountable to share details of the source from where raw material has been procured in Form I and further submission of the same to MSBB.
Based on the access and benefit sharing (ABS) compliance as per the provisions of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, MSBB has managed to collect Rs.9 lakh as royalty from Ayush manufacturers.
It is required to share benefit among concerned Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC) of the state for sustainable use of bio-resources as per BD Act, 2002, as per a MSBB notice served to around 600 manufacturers in the state. The notice also states that MSBB has the mandate to collect ABS payment under the provisions of BD Act, 2002.
BD Act stipulates that around 95 per cent of ABS will be given to BMC for sustainable development of bio-resources. Thus industries can be associated with the local people from where bio-resources are obtained to get continuous supply of bio-resources in perpetuity.
As per the MOEF notification, dated November 21, 2014, the benefit sharing obligation from trader and manufacturer shall be in the range of 1 to 3 per cent and 3 to 5 per cent respectively of the purchase price of the biological resources.
However, there is option to pay benefit sharing on sale price of the biological resources accessed for commercial utilisation under the law. For annual gross ex factory sale of product, in case of Rs.one crore benefit sharing will be 0.1 per cent, for Rs.1 to Rs.3 crore, it would be 0.2 per cent, for above Rs.3 crore turn over, the benefit sharing will be 0.5 per cent.
As per a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order, ABS is applicable to bio-resources from agriculture or forest area. An agriculture bio-resource when utilised for general commodities, no ABS is applicable. However, when utilised for commercial purposes for use in drugs and cosmetic products, ABS is applicable to it. ABS is also applicable for access to biological resources, bio-survey and bio-utilisation for commercial utilisation.