African civil society & AFSA have made several submissions to ARIPO detailing its many concerns with the content of the Draft Legal Framework on PVP, which is based on UPOV 1991, and the bias and lack of transparency in the processes leading to the finalization of the Draft ARIPO Legal Framework on Plant Variety Protection. Most recently AFSA submitted detailed comments to ARIPO's responses to civil society.
News
Following protests in many Chilean cities (see APBREBES Updates issue #3) and years of controversy, on 18th March, the Chilean government withdrew from its legislative process, the proposed Plant Growers Law (commonly known as "the Monsanto Law") that would have brought Chilean PVP law in line with UPOV 1991
Food Sovereignty Ghana - February 20, 2014: Organizations from Africa and around the world petition Ghana’s Parliament: Ghana’s Plant Breeders Bill Lacks Legitimacy! It Must Be Revised
Agribusiness giant Monsanto is marketing a purple carrot originating in Turkey over which Monsanto has claims plant variety rights in the EU and the US.
by APBREBES
In December 2013, Canada’s Agriculture Minister, Gerry Ritz, introduced an agriculture bill in Parliament called the "Agricultural Growth Act" (Bill C-18). One of the main aims being to bring the Canadian Plant Breeders Rights Act in conformity with UPOV 1991 to enable Canada to ratify UPOV 1991.
by APBREBES
Farmer, labour unions, religious, political and civil society organisations took to the streets of Accra on 28th January to demonstrate against the adoption of the Plant Breeders’ Bill that is before the Parliament. The Bill is based on UPOV 1991, and following its adoption the Ghana government intended to ratify and become a member of the 1991 UPOV Convention.
by APBREBES
This new study commissioned by the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament sheds light on the increasing concentration within the EU seed market. It concludes that industry's mantra that the EU market is healthy and diversified , with 7000 mainly small and medium enterprises is misleading.
It finds that the 7000 seed companies operating in the EU are mainly seed producers/multipliers and traders rather than breeders and they are increasingly being bought up or becoming dependent upon a few huge companies.
by APBREBES
Two new publications published by the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) focus on TRIPS-compatible alternatives to UPOV-style plant variety protection systems, as applied in Thailand and in India. According to QUNO, the publications aim to encourage and support countries wishing to develop a PVP system suited to their own specific needs, tailored in particular to their agriculture, food security, innovation and economic development priorities.
by European Coordination Via Campesina
On 20 January 2014, peasants from all over Europe demonstrated before the European Parliament. They called on European institutions to ban GMOs, reject intellectual property rights over seeds and to recognise peasants' rights to select, preserve, use, exchange and sell seeds.
For more information see Farmers mobilize in Brussels: “Reclaiming peasants' rights over our own seeds”
by APBREBES
The ability to grow resilient, nutritious food in adequate quantity for a growing global population in the face of climate change must necessarily be rooted in the revival of seed diversity. Thus, farmers’ complex knowledge, and their right to save, adapt, exchange and sell seed must be recognized and protected in policy and practice.