Theme: Policy & Influencing
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Oxfam and No Patents on Seeds! demand a stop to the patenting of plants: 180.000 signatures handed over to the European Patent Office
Plants and animals derived from conventional breeding are no longer patentable. This was the verdict published by the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) in May 2020. A new report of Oxfam’s partner No Patents on Seeds! shows, however, that such patents are still being applied for due to the legal […]
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SD=HS initiates collaboration with Catholic Relief Services
Today, SD=HS started working together with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to investigate the organisational, legal and economic aspects of seed production and marketing by smallholder farmers across countries and systems The purpose of this collaboration agreement is to compare the achievements of the seed clubs in the Mekong Delta with those of farmers producing under […]
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European Patent Office: Plants and animals obtained through classical breeding are not patentable
May 14, 2020 Plants and animals derived from conventional breeding are no longer patentable. This is the verdict published today by the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO). Oxfam endorses the ruling but at the same time demands further decisions to close existing loopholes. The judgment will take effect retroactively from […]
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Global Legal Constraints: How the International System Fails Small-Scale Farmers and Agricultural Biodiversity, Harming Human and Planetary Health, and What to Do About It
This publication explores the concerns driving relevant international instruments with the goal of increasing the understanding needed to achieve coherence and mutual support. Susan H. Bragdon notes the central role inequity plays both amongst the treaties and instruments discussed in this paper as well as in the broader international legal landscape that includes human rights […]
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Options to interpret the notion of private and non-commercial use as included in Article 15.1.i of the UPOV 1991 Convention. Final Report
This page contains the project reports and all meeting reports of the project ‘Options to interpret the notion of private and non-commercial use as included in Article 15.1.i of the UPOV 1991 Convention’. This project was undertaken by Szonja Csörgõ and Catherine Langat from Euroseeds, Judith de Roos from Plantum and Bram de Jonge from […]
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“Registration of Farmers’ Varieties”: Final report of the workshop
The registration of farmers’ varieties in national and regional seed catalogues – as objects of seed regulation – has been the subject of considerable debate in recent years, at local, national and international levels. Farmers have contributed immensely to the development, management and conservation of a wide range of crop varieties, but national seed regulations […]
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Status of Patenting Plants in the Global South. Position Paper and Research Report
Over the last few decades, the number of patents on plants and plant parts has greatly increased in various parts of the world. This has triggered social debate about possible negative consequences for the breeding sector, farmers and society. Despite the urgency of these questions, most research and literature has focused exclusively on developed countries […]
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Reinvigorating the Public Sector: The Case of Food Security, Small-scale Farmers, Trade and Intellectual Property Rules
Susan Bragdon Abstract: The world increasingly looks to market-based solutions to meet local and global food security needs. This trend is accompanied by a weakening of the public sector. These two trends have an enormous influence on the creation of a modern food system that is harming the health of people and planet. Individually and […]
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The impact of national seed laws on the functioning of small-scale seed systems. A country case study
This study is one of the stock-taking activities undertaken under the SD=HS program, focusing on policies relevant to the functioning of small-scale farming systems. It aims to guide further work of the SD=HS program by assessing national seed laws in the eight countries covered by the program, to inform recommendations to ensure these laws better […]
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A summary of the impact of national seed legislation on the functioning of small-scale farmers’ seed systems in Peru, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. Policy paper
National seed laws are important for the functioning of farmers’ seeds systems. This study was conducted under the IFAD-Oxfam program: “Putting Lessons into Practice: Scaling up Peoples Biodiversity Management for Food Security.
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From COVID-19 to biodiversity loss: all global challenges are connected
Susan Bragdon The world is not on track to achieve the Agenda 2030 vision for sustainable development that is human rights based, gender sensitive and planet centered. In fact, with less than a decade to go, we are moving backward on many of the interlinked global challenges identified by the Agenda’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related […]