Submissions of information on ITPGRFA interrelations with UPOV and WIPO
News
by National Farmers' Union of Canada
On Tuesday, February 25, Bill C-18, the Agricultural Growth Act, became law when it received royal assent. The new law, which brings Canada under the UPOV ’91 plant breeders’ rights regime, will come into force by Cabinet order. From now on, seed companies’ exclusive rights to control new varieties of seed have been expanded, they have gained new ways to collect royalty revenue from farmers and a longer, twenty-year royalty collection period (twenty-five years for tree and vine varieties).
by Netnou-Nkoana NC, Jaftha JB, Dibiloane MA, Eloff J.
Netnou-Nkoana NC, Jaftha JB, Dibiloane MA, Eloff J. Understanding of the farmers’ privilege concept by smallholder farmers in South Africa Published in: S Afr J Sci. 2015;111(1/2), Art. #2013-0344, 5 pages. 2015/2013-0344
by GRAIN/AFSA
AFSA/GRAIN (January 2015) Land and seed laws under attack: who is pushing changes in Africa?
by GRAIN
GRAIN (November 2014): Trade deals criminalize farmers' seeds
by APBREBES
UPOV bodies – the Council (48th session), the Consultative Committee (88th session), the Administrative and Legal Committee (70th session), and the Administrative and Legal Committee Advisory Group (CAJ-AG) – met in Geneva from 13th to 17th October 2014. Below are highlights of the main discussions and outcomes.
UPOV Council (48th Session)
The UPOV Council, the highest decision making body in UPOV met on 16th October.
Appointment of the Secretary General of UPOV
by TWN
The multinational seed industry is pressing for more international harmonization of the plant breeders’ rights protection system that will intensify corporate control.
Unlike most intergovernmental organisations that allow access to its meeting documents and proceedings, UPOV restricts access to meeting documents of the Consultative Council, to its member states. Thus with the aim to enhance transparency in UPOV matters, APBREBES has from time to time been making requests under various Freedom of Information Acts. The latest request has facilitated access to restricted UPOV documents concerning the 88th session of the Consultative Council meeting that was held on 15th October 2014.
by Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA)
In a press release dated 3 November 2014, the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) appealed to Member States of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) to postpone the Diplomatic Conference (scheduled to take place in August 2015 in Tanzania) that will formally adopt the much criticized draft ARIPO Protocol on PVP, modelled on UPOV 1991.
On October 30, 2014, the Convention People’s Party (CPP) in Ghana has called on the Mahama Administration to withdraw, what it called “the disgraceful Plant Breeders Bill (PBB) submitted to Parliament by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice”.