Global Information System

Number of records: 234

196) Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) initiative

Chile is one of the six pilot countries of the FAO- Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded global project on conservation and sustainable management of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), an initiative launched in 2002. After project approval, a discussion between 2007 and 2009, led by Ministry of Agriculture, regarding GIAHS conservation activities for Chiloé Archipelago follows. These discussions finally led to the designation of the Chiloé Archipelago in Chile as a GIAHS in 2011. The objectives of GIAHS initiative in Chile include (1) to support the conservation and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity, its associated cultural and ancestral knowledge, and the goods and services it provides; (2) to develop and implement market strategies that support agrobiodiversity conservation, know-how and sustainable uses while improving local rural livelihoods; and (3) to incorporate conservation principles and agrobiodiversity valuation considerations into public-sector policies and programs. Activities relating to this initiative include capacity and awareness development, community seed banks, value-chain development and other value-creating and cultural activities (e.g. development of tourism) as well as participatory research. Lessons learned include that the sustainability of such initiatives can be enhanced by establishing governance structures that facilitate articulation of the different public and private actors; action plans further contribute to the sustainability.

Category: 1.Recognition of local and indigenous communities’, farmers’ contributions to conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA, such as awards and recognition of custodian/guardian farmers

Type of measure/practice: Technical; Administrative

197) Access and benefit sharing: capacity building / support multilateral system

The Governments of the Netherlands and Iran are co-chairing a dedicated working group under the Treaty (ITPGRFA), to enhance the functioning of the Multilateral System. The group took up its work in 2014; negotiations are focused on increasing user-based payments and contributions to the Treaty’s Benefit-sharing Fund, with the overall objective to enhance the functioning of the Treaty’s Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing for food security and sustainable agriculture. The Working Group currently works on text-based negotiations for the revision of the Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA) for exchanges of crops within the Treaty’s Multilateral System (MLS) (Annex I). At the same time, criteria and options are identified and considered for expansion of the coverage of the scope of the MLS. To reach compromise between the partners (Contracting Parties, private sector, NGO’s and academia), these two processes will need come into force at the same time. A detailed implementation plan to attain the enhanced MLS is under development and will take into account issues related to digital (sequence) information arising from PGRFA and Farmers Rights.

Category: 2.Financial contributions to support farmers conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA such as contributions to benefit-sharing funds

Type of measure/practice: Others

198) Exceptions to plant breeders’ rights and patent rights in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, farmers have the right to save, use, exchange and sell of varieties not falling under the protection of plant breeders’ rights or patent rights. Though, these seeds need to comply with quality standards as defined in the national seed law, in accordance with the European Seed Marketing Directive. Regarding varieties protected by plant breeders’ rights or patent rights, the farm-saved seeds exemption applies. For plant varieties protected by national plant breeders’ rights, exemptions are regulated by the Dutch Seed Law (Zaaizaad- en plantgoedwet, 2005). For plant varieties protected by European plant breeders’ rights, exceptions are regulated by Regulation (EC) 2100/94 on Community plant variety rights. For plant varieties falling under a patent (Directive 98/44/EC on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions), the same provision applies. Based on these exemptions, farmers in the Netherlands can use farm-saved seeds of protected varieties of a number of agricultural crop species (e.g. cereals and potatoes) on their own farm against the payment of a remuneration to the holder of a plant breeders’ right, but are not allowed to market farm-saved seeds of protected varieties.

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

Type of measure/practice: Legal

199) Varieties for Diversity

In 2013, the German Plant Breeders’ Association (BDP), in co-operation with the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMEL) and the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE), established the initiative ‘Varieties for Diversity’. The objective is to enhance the availability of improved varieties to anybody who would wish to use those for the purposes and under the conditions of the Multilateral System (MLS). Thereby, the Varieties for Diversity initiative aims at implementing the principles of the breeders’ exemption also to those who might not be able to access the varieties concerned under normal market conditions. The core component is that protected premium plant varieties of German breeders are included in the MLS of the International Treaty. The varieties, including their climatic adaptations, are comprehensively described to facilitate the targeted selection of suitable plant material. They are easily accessible to anyone who signs the Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA) through the German National Inventory of Plant Genetic Resources. For the genetic resources themselves, no payment is charged, but the recipient may have to pay for shipping costs and the necessary plant health certificates. So far, more than 300 varieties of German breeders have been included in the MLS.

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; Administrative; Legal; Others

200) Draft national legislation on plant genetic resources in Sudan (2016)

The proposed national legislation on plants drafted in 2011 by a task force of technical and legal experts formed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The draft legislation was then submitted to the concerned authorities in the Ministry of Justice in 2016 for further procedures and to the cabinet of ministers for approval. The draft legislation is aimed at: conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA to enhance food security and other public goods; facilitate access to PGRFA; equitable and fair sharing of benefits arising from the use of the PGRFA; and protection of farmer and community rights related to PGRFA. Chapter V, Section 35 refers specifically to the protection of Farmers’ Rights. It allows registration of new plant varieties developed and cultivated by farmers and protection of traditional knowledge associated with PGRFA. It further includes provisions on equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of PGRFA and enables farmers to participate in decision-making at the national level in relation to the conservation of PGRFA and on conservation, use, exchange and sale of seeds and propagating materials of farmers' varieties. The draft legislation, once enacted, would realize Farmers’ Rights.