A human rights impact assessment of the UPOV 1991 plant variety protection

Between 2012 and 2014, a network of seven civil society organizations conducted a study to better understand and raise awareness of the potential implications of the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention for the realization of human rights. Based on the policy tool Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA), a methodology was developed to assess such implications based on a series of case studies. They revealed that from a human rights perspective, UPOV’s restrictions on the use, exchange and sale of seed/propagation material of protected varieties could adversely affect the right to food as well as other human rights, by reducing the amount of household income which is available for food, healthcare or schooling as well as by limiting access to seed of preferred quality; beneficial interlinkages between formal and informal seed systems would be cut off. Other negative impacts include limitations to the farmers’ rights on the protection of traditional knowledge and to participate in decision-making at national level. While the case-studies were carried out in Kenya, Peru and the Philippines, the developed methodology could be used as a basis for impact assessments in other countries and contexts as well.