News

A New Report published by a group of international NGOs presents evidence that stronger plant variety protection based on the 1991 Act of the Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV 1991) threatens the Right to Food.

Developed countries regularly put pressure on developing countries to introduce stringent plant variety protection (PVP) regimes modeled on UPOV 1991, without duly considering the consequences on the enjoyment of human rights of vulnerable groups such as small-scale farmers and in particular women.

UPOV will be meeting in Geneva for its Autumn session from 13^th to 17^th October 2014. Its Administrative and Legal Committee (CAJ) will meet on 13^th October, the Administrative and Legal Committee Advisory Group (CAJ-AG) on 14^th and 17^th October, the Consultative Committee (CC) on 15^th October while its highest decision-making body, the UPOV Council on 16^th October. The meetings of the CAJ-AG and the CC are closed to observers.

Key upcoming issues:

In a letter dated 18th September 2014 NGOs from around the world have asked Dr. Shakeel Bhatti, the Secretary to the International Treaty to reconsider his approach to implementing paragraph 3 of Resolution 8/2013 (adopted in September 2013) concerning implementation of Farmers Rights (Article 9) of the Treaty. Paragraph 3 of Resolution 8/2013 requests the Secretary to “to invite UPOV and WIPO to jointly identify possible areas of interrelations among their respective international instruments”.

On 5^th September 2014, the Congress of Guatemala repealed plant variety legislation that would have allowed Guatemala to accede to UPOV 1991.

Civil society groups continue to protest against the Plant Variety Protection Bill, which is modeled on UPOV 1991. Previously farmer, labour unions, religious, political and civil society organisations have had street demonstration against the adoption of the Bill, expressing serious concerns over the lack of public consultation, the content of the Bill (in particular the undermining of farmers' rights), and Ghana's intention to join UPOV 1991. For the latest see:

by Bram De Jonge, in: Journal of Politics and Law; Vol. 7, No. 3; 2014

Over 50 organisations have co-signed a letter to the International Plant Treaty calling for it to safeguard the implementation of farmers’ rights in the context of joint activities with the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV).

AFSA has launched an urgent appeal to the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO), the African Union (AU) and to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) to urgently revise the draft ARIPO Plant Variety Protection Protocol, recognise farmers’ rights and facilitate the right to food. In its latest appeal to ARIPO, the AU and UNECA, and acting upon expert legal advice obtained, AFSA is alleging that:

The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), a pan African platform comprising civil society networks and farmer organisations working towards food sovereignty in Africa, has released a briefing paper on the deliberations that took place during the SADC Regional Workshop held on 13-14 March 2014, in Johannesburg, South Africa.