Biological Resources and Traditional Knowledge Act, 2021 (No. 4 of 2021).

This Act lays down rules for establishing a framework for the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, including by appropriate access to genetic resources and technologies, taking into account all rights over those resources, with the aim of contributing to the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of its components. This Act shall apply to: (I) genetic resources within the scope of Article 15 of the Convention; (II) traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources within the scope of the Convention and to the benefits arising from the utilization of such knowledge; (III) in situ or ex situ access to and use of genetic resources as well as their natural and synthetic derivatives where such access or use occurs in The Bahamas; (IV) biological resources or associated traditional knowledge originating within The Bahamas; (V) genetic resources originating from The Bahamas which are held or were or may hereafter be removed without lawful authority or for taxonomy; and (VI) all persons wishing to study, use, record, collect, document, use for sale, stored in a herbarium, private or institutional collection or catalogue any specimens of flora or fauna, terrestrial or marine or traditional knowledge associated with same.
This Act sets out provisions on the responsibilities of the Minister for the general supervision and management of this Act; the duties of the Competent National Authority which serves as a member of the National Benefit Sharing Board; the duties of the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection as the national focal point on access and benefit-sharing for the purposes of Article 13 of the Nagoya Protocol; the establishment, composition and functions of the Access to Benefit Sharing Committee; the establishment and functions of the National Benefit Sharing Board and the establishment of the Benefit Sharing Trust Fund under the control of the management of the Board; the duties of the National Competent Authority to grant access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge subject to the prior informed consent and to ensure that benefits arising from their utilization are shared in a fair and equitable way with indigenous and local communities; the application procedures of permit to access biological resources, to export, to operate a research facility, and to conduct research at sea; the monitoring of the compliance with this Act by the Competent National Authority and measures to be taken to address situations of non-compliance; and offences and penalties for the violation of the provisions of this Act, including unlawful claim to intellectual property rights, unpermitted use of biological resources and non-compliance with the conditions of the permit. This Act underlines that the issuance of the permit to access genetic resources is accepted as an internationally recognized certificate of compliance, and it is evident that the genetic resource which it covers has been accessed in accordance with prior informed consent and that mutually agreed terms have been established.