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IRRI - News about Rice and People - 2 February 2000
PLANT VARIETY RIGHTS SPARK DEBATE IN ASIA
Los Baños, Philippines - Asia's rice industry, substantially unchanged in how it grows and produces rice since the days of the Green Revolution in the 1960s and '70s, is facing its first major challenge of the 21st century. The new concepts of plant variety protection (PVP) and intellectual property (IP) rights are set to change forever long-cherished traditions that have seen rice varieties shared freely not only among poor rice farmers but also among nations.
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 deputy director general for partnerships of the Philippine-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), William Padolina, said that "most countries are already putting in place PVP and other patent laws that will meet the minimum requirements of the WTO's Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement."
"These new laws, which aim to protect the genetic resources of each country, will definitely affect the way research is conducted and germplasm is exchanged in the region," Dr. Padolina said. "Eventually, this will also affect how rice is grown, processed, and sold."
A decision reached at Rio de Janeiro in 1992 by signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity established that genetic resources (seeds) are no longer "the common heritage of mankind" but fall under the sovereignty of the individual country.
Such decisions have already sparked confusion and debate in Asia. In 1997, India and Pakistan expressed disquiet over the use of the name Basmati in a patent granted to an American firm. Thailand also raised similar concerns that the actions of the same company had a bearing on the special status of its jasmine rice varieties. A subsequent explanation by the firm and other experts, however, made clear that the U.S. patent and the company's actions had in no way affected the rights of these countries to grow, produce, and export basmati or jasmine rice anywhere in the world. Despite this clarification, 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. For many years, INGER, the world's leading rice germplasm exchange and testing network, has facilitated the free exchange of such genetic material and has played a significant role in developing new and improved rice varieties in many countries.
Late last year, IRRI and its national research partners in Asia continued efforts to address these issues at a meeting in Bangkok of the Council for Partnerships in Rice Research in Asia (CORRA) focusing on biotechnology, genetically modified organisms, and plant variety rights.
Dr. Padolina noted the "very good exchange of information" at that meeting, 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."
Representatives of all member-nations in CORRA are to meet again from 16 to 18 February at IRRI's headquarters to discuss the "Impact on Research and Development of Sui Generis Approaches to Plant Variety Protection of Rice in Developing Countries."
IRRI is organizing the international workshop with support from CORRA, 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.
Dr. Padolina said the meeting "will provide a venue for discussing current developments and issues affecting PVP and the free flow of germplasm among CORRA members, with inputs from international experts on IP rights and PVP from the public and private sectors."
The experts will come from Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Korea, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Netherlands, Philippines, Thailand, United States, Vietnam, World Bank, UNDP, USAID, Rockefeller Foundation, other international agricultural research organizations, and the public and private sectors.
The conference organizers have invited a range of distinguished scientists and research administrators as the main speakers.
* Professor Michael Blakeney from the Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute at the University of London will speak on "Plant variety protection, international agricultural research, and the exchange of germplasm." * Mr. Barry Greengrass and Mr. Sumito Yasuoka of the International Union for the Protection of New Plant Varieties (UPOV) will talk about "Implications of the 1991 Act of the UPOV convention for developing countries" and "Protection of rice varieties under the UPOV system: overview and technical aspects" (respectively). * Dr. Frederic Erbisch of the Office of Intellectual Property at Michigan State University will discuss "Challenges of PVP administration: how a semipublic agricultural research institution protects its new plant varieties and markets them." * Dr. Kenneth S. Fischer of the World Bank will focus on "Implications of changes in PVP and IP legislation for rice research and development." * Dr. Jeroen van Wijk of Erasmus University, Rotterdam, will tackle "Plant variety protection and the industrialization of agriculture: political strategies in crop development." * Dr. Paul S. Teng from Monsanto will discuss "The changing private sector investment in rice." * Dr. Don S. Loch from the Department of Primary Industries in Australia will speak on "Developing an effective proprietary basis for seed supply." * Dr. Cornelis L. J. van der Meer of the World Bank will analyze "Seed regulations: national requirements and regional challenges." * Dr. Michael T. Jackson from IRRI will describe "Rice genetic resources for food security: four decades of exchange and use."
"The output of the sessions will focus on developing principles to guide future regional collaboration in the light of PVP and other IP regimes now in place," Dr. Padolina explained. "The workshop will also highlight the need to establish policies and mechanisms that will govern regional activities to ensure a free flow of germplasm under changing legal and commercial environments imposed by new IP and PVP legislation. These policies and mechanisms must be responsive to the needs of both the public and private sectors involved in rice research."
IRRI, with its headquarters in the Philippines and offices in 11 other countries, is the world's leading international rice research and training center. It is an autonomous, nonprofit institution that is focused on improving the well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and consumers, particularly those with low incomes, while preserving natural resources. IRRI is part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies that funds 16 international research centers.
For more information visit the CGIAR (www.cgiar.org) or Future Harvest websites (www.futureharvest.org). Future Harvest is an initiative of the 16 CGIAR research centers and their donor agencies to raise public awareness of the importance of agricultural research. In April this year, IRRI will celebrate its 40th anniversary under the theme "Rice Research for the New Millennium." As part of the celebrations, the Institute will host the International Rice Research Conference from 31 March to 3 April, and a range of other events on the actual anniversary day of 4 April. To mark the occasion, Philippine President Joseph Estrada has been invited to give a keynote speech.
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For additional information, contact Duncan
Macintosh, IRRI, MCPO Box 3127, Makati City 1271,
Philippines; telephone (63-2) 845-0563 or (63-2) 844-3351
to 53; fax: (63-2) 891-1291 or (63-2) 845-0606; email:
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