The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) continues to pointedly exclude African civil society and farmer representation from its meetings, in blatant disregard of principles of good democratic governance and participation as emphasized in multiple International Treaties and UN Human Rights guidance. This is going on despite
public assurances by the ARIPO Secretariat to ensure greater public participation. It appears that the Secretariat is hell bent on pressurising its 19 member States to operationalize a draconian regional intellectual property law that offers extremely strong protection of breeders’ rights and that threatens Farmers’ rights and sustainable agricultural development in the ARIPO region.
Read more in the press release by AFSA.