Pakistan
February 27, 2007
by Wagdy Sawahel,
SciDev.Net
Pakistan has moved to protect
farmers' rights to save, re-use and exchange genetically
modified (GM) seeds, which will protect them from depending on
multinational companies for seed each year.
The cabinet has approved draft
legislation to enable Pakistan to fulfill the World Trade
Organization's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights.
The rules aim to preserve
incentives for seed companies to continue to improve seeds and
develop new plant varieties by stopping farmers from selling GM
seeds on a commercial scale. But they will also protect farmers'
rights to re-use GM seeds from one generation to the next.
The set of rules is similar to
those adopted in India, where farmers are allowed to sell GM
seed on a small scale as long as it is unbranded — known as
'brown bagging' in the United States.
Public
sector research institutes will have ownership rights for their
varieties and the scientists involved in their development will
be given a 20 per cent share of any royalties from the sale of
seed.
Speaking to SciDev.Net, Anwar Nasim, president of the Federation
of Asian Biotech Associations and chair of Pakistan's National
Commission on Biotechnology, welcomed the news saying "the bill
is of great importance for farmers in Pakistan and we are happy
that it has now been approved by the cabinet".
"This can serve as a model for other developing countries," said
Nasim.
CropLife International — the global federation that represents
the plant science industry — also welcomed the regulations,
saying they underlined the patent protection that GM crop
technology is already subject to.
"We hope that the newly enacted
piece of legislation will foster the improvement of
varieties, while safeguarding the proprietary
rights of titleholders," said Javier Fernandez, Manager of
Intellectual Property and Trade Affairs at CropLife
International.
The cabinet approved the draft
legislation for plant breeder's rights this month (14 February).
It will be submitted to the parliament after vetting by the Law,
Justice and Human Rights division. |
