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HOW TO REALIZE FARMERS' RIGHTS AT THE
NATIONAL LEVEL:
Step 5: Protecting
and enhancing legal space for farmers' customary
practices
In this sub-section options to protect and
enhance Farmers' Rights to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed and
propagating material will be presented. These measures cover the assessment of
current legislation and policies and the development of legal space for such
customary practices.
Why is this important? In the International
Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, the Contracting
Parties recognize the enormous contribution that farmers have made and will
continue to make for the conservation and sustainable use of crop genetic
resources. This constitutes the basis for food and agriculture production
throughout the world (Paragraph 9.1) and the basis of Farmers' Rights
(Preamble). The International Treaty also states that nothing in its provisions
on Farmers' Rights in Article 9 shall be interpreted to limit any rights that
farmers have to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed and propagating
material (Paragraph 9.3). The Preamble emphasizes that any rights recognized in
the Treaty to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed and other
propagating material are fundamental for the realization of Farmers' Rights.
Whereas the International Treaty does in fact not recognize any particular
rights regarding these customary practices of farmers, it is clear that this
topic is fundamental to the realization of Farmers' Rights. The reason is
obvious: Without the rights to save, use, exchange, and sell seeds and
propagating material, farmers will not anymore be in a position to conserve and
sustainably use crop genetic diversity. This would lead to massive genetic
erosion, and be fully detrimental to the implementation of the International
Treaty in terms of in situ conservation and sustainable use. In many
countries in the North this is already becoming a reality, and countries in the
South are following. Thus action in this regard is urgent.
In this
sub-section, various options to protect and enhance these rights will be
presented. This page will be finalized in 2012. It will cover how
legislation and policies can be assessed with regard to these rights, and
present options on how legal space for farmers' customary practices can be
safe-guarded within current frameworks of legislation. Relevant legislation are
plant breeders rights, patent rights, seed laws, certification regulations and
bioprospecting laws.
Read more about:
How to measure
successes from the realization of Farmers' Rights to save, use, exchange and
sell farm-saved seed
Success stories from the realization
of Farmers' Rights to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed |
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