Regional Centre for Biotechnology Act, 2016 (Act No. 36 of 2016).

This Act, consisting of 46 sections, creates the Regional Centre for Biotechnology, under the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology. It establishes composition, duties and responsibilities of the above mentioned Centre, entitled to perform the following activities: establish infrastructure and technology platforms which are directly relevant to biotechnology education and research; carry out research in biotechnology and related fields; produce human resource tailored to drive innovation in biotechnology, particularly in areas of new opportunities and to fill talent gap in deficient areas; undertake research and development and scientific investigations in collaboration with relevant research centre’s in the region; conduct short-term and long-term training courses and workshops in all areas of biotechnology; collect information with a view to setting up database for bioinformation; collect and disseminate local knowledge in the field of biotechnology, ensuring protection of intellectual property rights of local stakeholder communities; implement intellectual property rights policies; promote collaborative research and development networking programme in specific areas of biotechnology, etc.