In a press release dated 3 November 2014, the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) appealed to Member States of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) to postpone the Diplomatic Conference (scheduled to take place in August 2015 in Tanzania) that will formally adopt the much criticized draft ARIPO Protocol on PVP, modelled on UPOV 1991. AFSA also repeated its calls for the draft Protocol to be subjected to further review by experts outside of ARIPO and for national consultations involving all key stakeholders to be held, as required by international law, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and Article 9(2c) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
The press release follows AFSA’s participation in a Regional Workshop on the draft Protocol jointly organized by ARIPO, the UPOV Secretariat and the United States Patent and Trademark Office on 29-31 October 2014, in Harare, Zimbabwe.
AFSA appeals to ARIPO Members for Postponement of Diplomatic Conference and National Consultations