A
two-day workshop titled Reimagining the Governance of Genetic Resources and
Intellectual Property for Agriculture and Food Security in Asia was held in
Kathmandu on 2 and 3 August 2017. It was organized by South Asia Watch on
Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), together with the ARC Laureate
Project on Intellectual Property and Food Security at the University of
Queensland and Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI). The objective of the workshop
was to discuss policy options to safeguard the rights of farmers and breeders
in the Asia-Pacific countries.
The
two-day workshop discussed the options to address the interests of all
relevant public and private stakeholders including farmers, breeders and seed
traders. It also aimed to critically assess the
arrangements related to plant genetic resources in national laws and
international agreements such as the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the
Convention on Biodiversity, and the International Union for the Protection of
New Varieties of Plants (UPOV).
This
issue is highly relevant to Nepal as the country is currently exploring options
to create policy and legal space for the rights of farmers and breeders, for
example, in its draft law on plant variety protection and the existing Seed Act
and Seed Regulations.
The
experts present at the inaugural session of the workshop emphasised the need
for a policy regime that can ensure that the communities which spend
generations preserving and innovating plant genetic resources are rewarded.
Such a regime should be able to provide due recognition to the farmers and
breeders through intellectual property rights, and offer them a share in
benefits derived from the use of their traditional knowledge which they have
honed for generations.
Stressing
the importance of plant genetic resources to sustain agriculture, Dr. Posh Raj
Pandey, Chairman of SAWTEE, pointed out that seeds and seedlings are as
important as soil, water and sunlight for farming but these very elements get
less attention in academic and policy discourse in Nepal. He stressed the need
for the governance of genetic resources to empower the farming community. Dr. Ratnakar
Adhikari, Executive Director of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) at the
WTO pointed out that research and development in agriculture is not limited to
scientists and laboratories but takes place in the field by farmers. It is
critically important that communities that have spent generations preserving
and innovating the genetic resources are rewarded, he said, pointing out that
balancing breeders right with rights of farmers is a challenge.
Among
the developing countries, India is the only country that has adopted sui generis system to govern plant
genetic resources. Sharing the experience of India, Dr. Rakesh Chandra Agrawal,
Registrar General at India Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmer Rights
Authority said that registration of plant genetic varieties had a slow start
but now two-thirds of the total registrations are coming from the farmers side.
Discussing the Indian plant variety protection law, he pointed out that India
even protects farmers from prosecution in cases of innocent infringement. India
had legislated the Plant Variety Protection and Farmers Rights Act- PPVFR Act
in 2001, implementing a plant variety protection regime that protects the
rights of both breeders and farmers.
Dr.
Kamalesh Adhikari, Research Fellow, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of
Queensland Australia, pointed out that protecting the interests of plant
breeders and farmers offers opportunities in areas of agriculture, food
security and the use of plant genetic resources. Failing to create own kinds
of sui generis plant variety
protection regimes may not only restrict the ability of Asian countries to
strengthen farmers seed systems, but may also prevent them from protecting
farmers rights over seeds and traditional knowledge. This is because while
making an attempt to protect breeders rights over modern plant varieties
through an intellectual property system, Asian countries may find it difficult
to create a legal space that smallholder farmers need—for example for farmers
who rely on the conservation, saving, use and regular exchange of seeds of both
modern and native plant varieties.
The workshop saw
presentations of papers on the experience of different countries, including
Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Thailand and
Ecuador regarding the governance of genetic resources and intellectual
property. The workshop saw the participation of about 30 participants
representing agriculture ministry, seed entrepreneurs, farmers, gene bank, and
academia among others.
Programme Agenda
Presentation:
Opportunities and Challenges Created by
Plant Variety Protection and Farmers Rights Act in India
Dr
Rakesh Chandra Agrawal, Registrar General, Protection of Plant Varieties and
Farmers Rights Authority, Ministry of
Agriculture, Government of India
Presentation:
Inscriptions of
Campesinos Rights in Ecuador:
Protecting Plant Varieties and Seed
Mr
David James Jefferson, Doctoral Researcher, TC Beirne School of Law, St Lucia
Presentation:
The Legal Regime of Plant Varieties
Protection, Seeds and Farmers Rights in
Bangladesh: Examining the Perpendicular in the Lance of Intellectual Property,
Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and Plant Genetic Resources
Dr
Md. Towhidul Islam, Professor,
Department of
Law, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Presentation:
Consolidating Local interest
in Agriculture: A Case Study on Plant Breeders
Rights in Sri Lanka
Ms Asanka
Perera, Associate Lecturer, Monash Business School, Monash University,
Australia
Presentation:
Regulatory Politics and
Farmers Rights: Legislative
Developments in the Pakistani Seed Sector
Dr Muhammad
Ahsan Rana, Associate Professor, Suleman Dawood School of Business, Pakistan
Presentation:
Thailands sui generis
system for plant variety protection
Dr Pawarit
Lertdhamtewe, Director of the Law and Development Institute, LERTDHAM
Foundation, Thailand
Presentation:
Formulation of
National Seed Policy in Timor-Leste: Addressing Issues of Governance of
Intellectual Property Rights over Plant Genetic Resources
Dr Pratap
Shrestha, Program Specialist, Seed Systems and Plant Genetic Resources, USC Canada
Presentation:
Plant variety protection law
in Nepal: Does a two-track model of
plant variety registration work to protect farmers rights?
Dr
Kamalesh Adhikari, Research Fellow, TC Beirne School of Law, St Lucia Campus, The
University of Queensland, Australia
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