IPR, Seeds and Farmers’ Rights EMERGING ISSUES - Ditdit Pelegrina, SEARICE

IPR (intellectual property rights) on seeds  Exclusive proprietary rights on seeds  Argued as driving force for innovation and pre-condition for investments  Japan-Philippines; US-Philippines - with conditions on patent and plant variety protection  US-Singapore: patent protection for transgenic plants and animals  US-Morroco: patent protection for plants and animals  US-Vietnam: plant variety protection  Comes in different forms - patents, plant variety protection, geographic indication

Source: ETC Group, 2008

Global Proprietary Seed Market  2009: US$32B  US$18B increase from 2001 fgures  Attributed to increased use traits and stacked trait corn (GM corn) in South America  Vegetable seed industry: US$3.8B

Growing business  In 2000  Dow (US) with 30% pending applications on gene sequences for corn  Ribosome (US) with 72% application for potatoes  Dupont (US) with 41% application for wheat genes  2010: increasing trend towards patenting products of conventional breeding (not GMOs)  Test case under EPO: brocolli (Bioscience) - patent application on seeds and breeding method  wrinkled tomato (Israel) - ‘essentially biological processes’

Review of some patent application on plants in the Philippines (as inventions)  Rice transposone gene by Japan Science and Technology Agency  Process of transformation of rice using transposon gene + transformed rice (seeds and plants) + methods of use - Japan Science and Technology Agency  Seed production of hybrid rice - Peijin Huang by Hainan Province, China  Herbicide resistant rice - Timothy Croughan of USA  Method of breeding rice plants of new variety with resistance to herbicides - Hokko Chemical Industry, Japan

Impacts of IPR  Control over seeds and food and agriculture production  Form of enclosure for farmers and for consumers (we pay for these IPR)  Limits research: need to pay for the license to use the genes or the seeds for research  Privatization of resource: genetic resource  Limits access by poor farmers on materials unless it is paid for (other side: creates dependency)  Goes against Farmers’ Rights to save, use, sell and exchange seeds  Cornerstone of rich agricultural biodiversity - the base for our food security

Traditional Seeds HYVsHybrid Seeds GMOsGURTS (terminator ) Seed saving can be saved and re-planted Can be saved and re-planted Can be saved and re-planted but quality deteriorates Encourage use of fresh seeds every season Coupled with hybrid technology Preference for use of fresh seeds every season No seed saving (sterile seeds) Developer FarmersPublic research institution Corporations Public research institution (testing) Corporations Farmers’ Access Farmer to farmer Extension agents/govt program Seed industry/ Corporations through research and extension system Seed industry/ corporations through research and extension system TRENDS: SEED TECHNOLOGY

Traditional Seeds HYVsHybrid Seeds GMOsGURTS (terminator ) Breeding process Natural selection Off-type selection composites heterogenous With hybridization + dwarfing gene Different techniques Homogenous population Large scale hybridization No further selection from F1 homogenous Gene technology (genetic engineering) homogenous gene technology Adaptation Site specificFor wide adaptation in prime areas For wide adaptation for prime areas but with site specific responses Wide adaptation wide adaptation Role of women Seed keeper ???

Farmers supply bulk of seeds Supplies 80-90% of seed requirement informal seed system by farmers Photo: CBDC-Nan Remains untapped, not priority area

Actual partition of rice seed supply in Vietnam Formal sector Seed Centers and State-owned Enterprises Informal sector Farm-saved seed Local Trading and Exchange Private companies The total seed requirement From Presentation of Michael Turner, Danida

Farmers seed system  Important seed source  Need for farmers to have control over their seeds especially in time of climate change  Need for access to old and new materials  Need to be ‘protected’ from IPR and mis- appropriation as part of upholding Farmers’ Rights over seeds