Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations  
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

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    The Inventory

    This online version of the Inventory presents, for each measure, the title and a brief description with information on implementing organization(s), start year, objectives, core elements, key outcomes, and, if applicable, lessons learned. It thus allows users to quickly identify those examples that may be of interest to them. A hyperlink to the original submission is provided, which includes additional information, such as on the history and context of the presented measure, challenges encountered, or target groups reached. In this way, users can get a more comprehensive idea of the measure in question and the specific context for which it was developed.
     
    To facilitate navigation, the Inventory is subdivided into eleven categories. Measures or practices that fall under more than one category are listed under each one that applies. Furthermore, information is provided on the type(s) of measures that are typically involved, such as technical, administrative, legal, and/or others, and on the relevant sub-article of Article 9 that is addressed. Additional search options allow searching by country, region, free text and keyword.
     
     
     
     
     
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    Number of records: 233

    86) Representation of farmers in the advisory boards of relevant institutions

    In the Netherlands, farmers and farmer organizations have multiple ways to participate and influence the development of policy and decision-making processes. As agriculture is heavily dependent on high quality of seeds and propagating material, farmers and farmer organizations play an important role in the development and implementation of policy. Farmers are represented in the advisory board of the national Centre for Genetic Resources (CGN), the advisory boards of the inspection services NAK (focusing on agricultural crops), Naktuinbouw (focusing on horticultural plants) and BKD (focusing on flower bulbs) as well as advisory boards of relevant research projects.

    Category: 8.Farmers’ participation in decision-making at local, national and sub-regional, regional and international levels

    Type of measure/practice: Technical; Administrative

    87) Plant Breeders’ Rights legislation in the EU implementing the Treaty and the UPOV 1991 Convention in a mutually supportive manner

    EU Regulation 2100/94 of 1994 sets out the EU plant variety protection system following the principles of the UPOV 1991 Convention. The objective is to provide a balanced IP framework for protecting plant varieties, which stimulates the creation of new varieties of plants for the benefit of farmers and the society at large. The core components of the system, which ensure the mutually supportive implementation of the Treaty and the UPOV Convention, are the scope of the right (article 13 of the EU Regulation) and the exceptions to the right (articles 14 and 15 of the EU Regulation). These exceptions ensure that farmers, especially smallholder farmers, can continue their practices of seed saving. One key outcome of the system is the number of varieties available for farmers on the EU market, adding up to around 40,000 varieties of agricultural and vegetable species, of which around 20,000 are protected; around 3,500 new varieties are released every year. All these varieties contribute to farmers’ choices; where the variety is not or no longer protected, farmers are free to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed of those varieties subject to national law.

    Category: 10.Legal measures for the implementation of Farmers’ Rights, such as legislative measures related to PGRFA.

    Type of measure/practice: Legal

    88) Exceptions to IP rights (the private and non-commercial use exception and the farm saved seed exception)

    Plant breeder’s rights is a time-limited intellectual property right on plant varieties, limited through exceptions. The objective is to balance the interests of breeders and farmers and to create a system where both parties benefit. Acts done privately and for non-commercial purposes are exempted from the scope of the plant breeder’s right. Thus, subsistence farmers who carry out their normal practices can be covered by the private and non-commercial use exception. There is also an optional exception, the farm-saved seed exception or agricultural exception (Article 15(2) UPOV 1991 Convention). This exception, under certain conditions, allows farmers to use for propagating purposes, on their own holdings, the product of the harvest which they have obtained by planting, on their own holdings, the protected variety. According to UPOV Explanatory Note (UPOV/EXN/EXC/1), "small farmers" with small holdings might be permitted to use farm-saved seed to a different extent and with a different level of remuneration to breeders than "large farmers". In EU law, for example, small commercial farmers are exempted from the payment of remuneration on the use of farm-saved seed. Many UPOV members have implemented both the private and non-commercial use exception and the optional farm-saved seed exception in their national laws.

    Category: 10.Legal measures for the implementation of Farmers’ Rights, such as legislative measures related to PGRFA.

    Type of measure/practice: Administrative; Legal

    89) Promoting the implementation of Article 9 through international cooperation and Official Development Assistance (ODA) (I)

    The goal of the "Strengthening Agro-biodiversity in Southern Africa" project is to strengthen food security in Southern Africa by promoting seed diversity and agro-ecological practices through an inclusive, evidence-based dialogue with governments at regional and country levels by empowered farmer’s and farmer support organizations. The project will enable the use of research and information on seed and soil fertility policies, regulations and programmes by small-scale farmers and farmer support organizations in advocating for agrobiodiversity, food security and farmers’ rights. Furthermore, policies and programmes that protect and support farmer-managed seed systems are being developed and promoted so as to mitigate the environmental and social impacts of the industrial food system. The project started in 2016 and is implemented by the African Centre for Biodiversity.

    Category: 6.Facilitation of farmers’ access to a diversity of PGRFA through community seed banks, seed networks and other measures improving farmers’ choices of a wider diversity of PGRFA.

    Type of measure/practice: Technical

    90) Author’s rights/copyrights

    Author’s rights/copyrights can be used to strengthen the position of traditional knowledge holders, viewing them as providers of knowledge just like scientists, rather than simply informants. In France, Author’s right/Copyright law is governed by Section I of the French Intellectual Property Code and the Law on Literary and Artistic Property of 11 March 1957 (modified in July 1985). All works of intellectual creation are protected based simply upon their creation, without any formal requirements. Conditions that must be satisfied in order to benefit from copyright protection are: (1) the work must be fixed in a material form; and (2) the work must be original. Every production in the literary, scientific and artistic domain, irrespective of the mode or form of expression, is eligible for copyright protection in France, including books, brochures, speeches, etc. Several tools have been developed to keep evidence of the creation, including the ‘Soleau envelop’, which can be purchased from the Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI) and used to prove that its content has been created by the applicant at a given date without the content or the date being questionable, or registration with an authors’ society.

    Category: 10.Legal measures for the implementation of Farmers’ Rights, such as legislative measures related to PGRFA.

    Type of measure/practice: Legal