The most important event during this biennium was the Bali Global Consultation on Farmers’ Rights. Gathering 95 participants from all regions and major stakeholder groups taking stock and discussing future action, it represented a milestone in the international work for Farmers’ Rights.
This biennium was characterized by a compilation of submissions that the Plant Treaty Secretariat had been requested to do, by dialogues within the FAO and an initiative on the interrelations between with the Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) relating to Farmers’ Rights.
In this biennium, there were lots of activities, even though no global or regional events took place. Many of the activities were reflected in a compilation from the Plant Treaty Secretariat. Among the contributions was a new book on success stories from the realization of Farmers’ Rights.
In this biennium, the most important activities were the Global Consultations on Farmers’ Rights. A first part was e-mail-based and reached out to all regions and stakeholder groups. The second part was a conference in Addis Ababa, with regional elements. A total of 160 stakeholders were consulted.
In this biennium a multitude of initiatives were taken in different parts of the world to compile and analyze views and experiences related to the realization of Farmers’ Rights, most importantly an international on-line consultation and a series of reports on the state of Farmers’ Rights.
An informal international consultation on Farmers’ Rights was held in Lusaka, Zambia, from 18 to 20 September 2007, jointly organized and co-hosted by the Norwegian and Zambian ministries of agriculture and food and the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI), Norway.
In the period between the entry into force of the Plant Treaty in 2004 and the first session of its Governing Body in June 2006, there were no formal processes related to Farmers’ Rights. However, The Farmers’ Rights Project sought to prepare the ground for negotiations.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) has a comprehensive scope and comprises many more rights than those related to seed and genetic resources. Also, the rights related to seed and genetic resourse are much more far reaching than those provided on Farmers’ Rights in the Plant Treaty. As a declaration, however, this is not a legally binding instrument, and even if the majority of countries supported the declaration, many countries have not. Nevertheless, UNDROP establishes important international norms shared by the majority of states, which may also affect the implementation of Farmers’ Rights under the Plant Treaty.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is relevant for the realization of Farmers’ Rights for two quite different reasons. On one hand, the Patent Cooperation Treaty under WIPO enables patents related to plants to be granted simultaneously in a large number of countries, which may heavily affect any rights that farmers’ have to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed of the plants affected by such patents. On the other hand, the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Resources and Folklore (IGC) under WIPO seeks to negotiate one or more international legal instruments to protect traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions and genetic resources.
The Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) is particularly relevant for the realization of Farmers’ Rights with respect to its provisions on requirements for national legislation on plant breeders’ rights. Dependent on how such legislation is formulated, it may to various degrees limit farmers practices of saving, using, exchanging and selling farm-saved seed of protected varieties.
The Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is particularly relevant for the realization of Farmers’ Rights due to its provisions requiring national legislation on patents and plant variety protection. Despite different opinions on how these provisions shall be interpreted, experience shows that there is much flexibility with regard to Farmers’ Rights.
The Convention on Biological Diversity CBD is closely interconnected with the Plant Treaty. Its provisions on traditional knowledge and access and benefit sharing are particularly relevant for the realization of Farmers’ Rights. However, there are different approaches to these issues, dependent on whether the aim is primarily to develop stewardship or ownership. Thus, it is useful to reflect the relevant provisions of the CBD through the Plant Treaty with its provisions and options for realization of Farmers’ Rights.