The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), the African Center on Biodiversity (ACB) and PELUM Association, representing civil society organizations and farmers of their networks, call on the Director General of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) to urgently provide in writing, full information on the outcomes of the Administrative Council with regard to the Draft Regulations to the Arusha Protocol. The signing organisations were made aware that the Administrative Council, which met in Harare, from 5th to 7th December 2016, did not adopt the Draft Regulations to the Arusha Protocol at the time in view of the concerns CSOs and farmers have raised and the need for wide consultations with stakeholders. They call on ARIPO to establish a credible process that includes and engages CSOs and farmer representatives in discussions on the Arusha Protocol and the Draft Regulations.
Open letter to ARIPO of 11 April, 2017