SARAWAK ASSEMBLY PASSES BIODIVERSITY AMENDMENT BILL

KUCHING, May 20 (Bernama) -- The Sarawak State Legislative Assembly here today unanimously passed the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (Amendment) Bill, 2025. 

The State Minister for Education, Innovation and Talent Development, Datuk Seri Roland Sagah Wee Inn, said the amendments aimed to strengthen the state’s biodiversity governance, safeguard indigenous rights and unlock sustainable economic opportunities through the commercialisation of biological resources.

"This amendment bill will strengthen Sarawak's position in biodiversity governance, reinforce state rights and enable economic opportunities through sustainable resource management," he said when tabling the Bill today.

bootstrap slideshow

The amendments grant the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) broader powers, including the ability to commercialise intellectual property, apply for external funding, as well as form subsidiary companies to bring research outputs to market. 

A key component of the Bill is the formalisation of benefit-sharing mechanisms with Sarawak’s indigenous communities, ensuring that traditional knowledge used in research and commercialisation is properly recognised and fairly compensated.

Sagah said SBC had also adopted blockchain technology to improve traceability and transparency in Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) agreements.

bootstrap slideshow

He said the Bill significantly enhanced penalties for offences involving unauthorised collection of protected biological resources, ranging from RM50,000 to RM500,000, or imprisonment of two to 10 years or both for offences committed by individuals, and between RM1 million to RM5 million for corporate offenders.

A new financial penalty provision allows the SBC Council to impose penalties of up to RM20 million for breaches of the Ordinance, with repeat offences subject to 10-fold increases, while unpaid penalties may be recovered as civil debt with additional charges for late payment.

The amendment also updates key definitions, including an expanded meaning of “microorganism” and a standardised definition of “native” as per the Interpretation Ordinance, 2005, as well as introducing a provision to allow SBC to provide facilities for commercial activities incidental to the SBC Council’s powers.

“By strengthening the ordinance, this amendment bill empowers Sarawak to harness its rich biological resources, ensuring scientific progress translates into economic benefits through commercial ventures,” he added.

-- BERNAMA