Trade agreement negotiations put pressure on developing countries to access UPOV 91
These agreements can take a number of forms:
- Free trade agreements (FTAs), sometimes called Economic Partnership Agreements or Association Agreements
- Bilateral investment treaties (BITs), sometimes called Investment Protection and Promotion
A Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) should be carried out at the beginning of any negotiation which includes the demand to change the national PVP legislation. Only if the Human Rights Impact Assessment shows no potentially negative impacts, the negotiations should be continued. So far only one HRIA of UPOV 91 has been carried out.
Country-level information on concluded trade agreements or those under negotiation is available from bilaterals.org. This is a collective effort to share information and stimulate cooperation against bilateral trade and investment agreements that are opening countries to the deepest forms of penetration by transnational corporations. One section contains news and analysis about bilateral and regional free trade and investment agreements under negotiation.