Provisions on Farmers’ Rights in Biodiversity Act of Bhutan, 2003, and Access and Benefit Sharing Policy of Bhutan, 2015

The Biodiversity Act of Bhutan, 2003, was developed as key legislation after Bhutan became a member of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1993, to establish sovereign rights over Bhutanese Genetic Resources and to promote their conservation and sustainable use as well as the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization. It is implemented by the National Biodiversity Centre. The Act covers biodiversity access and benefits, plant variety protection, protection of traditional knowledge, and offences and penalties. Both farmers’ and breeders’ rights are recognized and protected under the Act. It provides legal recognition of varieties that are not protectable under internationally existing patent and/or plant breeders’ rights systems and includes a provision on benefit-sharing if farmers’ or traditional varieties are used as breeding material for commercial purposes. The Competent Authority may restrict breeder’s rights in order to permit small-scale farmers to propagate seed which they have harvested on their holdings and to exchange it on a non-commercial basis. The Access and Benefit Sharing Policy of Bhutan, 2015, supports local communities to develop community protocols on which they can grant prior informed consent (PIC) and negotiate mutually agreed terms (MAT); it also establishes a Benefit-sharing Fund.