Los Banos, The Philippines
March 28, 2000

The world's rice-producing nations, which feed well over half the people on the planet, have been warned research efforts to ensure the food security of their burgeoning populations could be affected unless they prepare proper laws on plant variety protection (PVP) and intellectual property (IP).

The new concepts of PVP and IP are creating concerns about the exchange and use of material for research. The main worry is that PVP and IP legislation, if not properly handled, may restrict the free exchange of genetic material, or seeds, needed by scientists to develop new higher yielding rice varieties. This is because PVP and IP laws could, for the first time, introduce the concept of ownership into the Asian rice industry. While the idea of one company owning a popular variety is well established in crops such as wheat and maize, this is still unheard
of in the Asian rice sector, where even newly developed varieties are always made freely available to all farmers. But with the advent of biotechnology and with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and regulations looming on the horizon, such traditions are changing fast.

The Chairman of the Council for Partnership on Rice Research in Asia (CORRA), Dr. Joko Budianto from Indonesia, said that it is very important for rice-producing nations to master the complexities of PVP and IP laws as quickly as possible, otherwise their research efforts may suffer. "These PVP and IP legal requirements are new for many of us in rice research and production, but we have to study and introduce the necessary legislation as quickly as possible," he said.

Dr. Budianto warned, however, that each country must fully understand the overall impact of any new laws in this area. "For years, we have always freely exchanged rice varieties not just within Indonesia, but also from one country to another. These new laws will require us to introduce the concept of ownership with all the rights this will involve. But we must do this without having a negative impact on our research efforts."

Dr. Budianto had just participated in a recent 3-day meeting of senior representatives of the 12-nation CORRA at IRRI. A wide range of international experts on IP rights and PVP from the public and private sectors attended the event, "Impact on Research and Development of Sui Generis Approaches to Plant Variety Protection of Rice in Developing Countries."

Dr. William Padolina, IRRI’s director general for partnerships, said that the importance of the issues addressed was confirmed by the extremely high turnout at the meeting. "We originally planned for between 30 and 40
people, but more than 90 showed up," he said.

Summing up the achievements of the conference, Dr. Padolina said, "The critical issues are now appearing and initial discussions have begun. Any new laws that aim to protect the genetic resources of a country will definitely affect the way research is conducted and germplasm is exchanged in the region, Eventually, this will also affect how rice is grown, processed, and sold."

Dr. Padolina said that there has already been a very frank, open, and positive exchange of information among CORRA members and experts, adding that this was "crucial if the Asian rice industry is going to keep up with the latest developments in agriculture in Europe and North America."

A decision reached in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 by signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity took the first key step by establishing that genetic resources (seeds) were no longer "the common heritage of mankind" but fell under the sovereignty of the individual country. As a result, Dr. Budianto said, understandable concerns linger across Asia over the future control of the region's rich reservoir of rice germplasm. Of special concern is the possibility of monopolies emerging, as the private sector develops new rice varieties using the region's traditional genetic material and then seeks to sell the seed to poor rice farmers.

At the same time, IRRI is concerned that new rules on PVP may have a major impact on the operation of the International Network for the Genetic Evaluation of Rice (INGER), which it coordinates. F or many years, INGER, the world's leading rice germplasm exchange and testing network, has facilitated the free exchange of such genetic material. It has also played a significant role in developing new and improved rice varieties in many countries. Dr. Padolina said that concerns were expressed at the latest CORRA meeting that new PVP regimes could affect INGER. "But there was also a consensus that INGER should be allowed to continue and not be
impeded," he added. "What we must do now is try to synchronize a management system for Asia's vast and extremely valuable pool of rice germplasm. We must be able to manage it for the continuing benefit of all."

IRRI organized the CORRA workshop with support from the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands. March 28, 2000

IRRI news release
N3310