For half a century, UPOV was governed by a closed circle, excluding important stakeholders and keeping documents in a restricted area only accessible to delegates and a few observers. When APBREBES and the European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC) asked for observer status in 2009, UPOV first rejected their participation for political reasons. After interventions by the Governments of Norway and Switzerland the observer status of APBREBES and ECVC has been finally accepted in 2010. Since then APBREBES was engaged to improve the transparency and governance of UPOV. In 2011 we showed in a report how much UPOV on these issues is yet apart from other multilateral agreements and the great need for further reform.
Further activities by APBREBES and its members on the topic of governance of UPOV
- Open Letter to the Member States of UPOV, October 2005
- 28.10.09 UPOV denies participation to farmers’ and civil society organizations
- Open Letter to UPOV, March 2010
- 27.10.10 UPOV entering a new era of transparency & inclusiveness
- 19.10.11 APBREBES recommendations on Rules Concerning Observers
- 19.10.11 APBREBES Pressrelease: 50 years of UPOV – Time to Change
- 20.10.11 Intervention by APBREBES on rules for observers during the UPOV-Council
- 01.11.12 UPOV creates barriers to farmers’ participation