John Libbey Eurotext




Plant property rights and breeding in developing countries
Oléagineux, Corps Gras, Lipides. Volume 8, Number 5, 546-50, Septembre - Octobre 2001, Dossier : Aspects des filières semencières Nord/Sud
Résumé Article gratuit
Author(s) : Henri FEYT
Summary : Do developing countries need plant variety protection rights? As a result of the Uruguay Round adopted in Marrakech in 1994, all WTO member countries should have implemented property rights systems before the year 2000. In this frame, countries are required to provide "for the protection of plant varieties by patents or by an effective sui generis system or by any combination thereof". The interest of implementing IPR on plant varieties in developing countries is discussed, considering two types of seedlings or seeds: those with a very high added value (vegetable, ornamental, industrial... crops) and those for stapple food crops with a very low added value. If IPR are needed at short notice in the first case, in the second case the priority is to set up a bottom-up seed production organization aiming to promote individual initiatives at the farmer's level with an adapted seed quality control system implemented by governments.
Keywords : seed, seed production organization and system, seed quality control, developing countries, plant variety protection rights.

Plant property rights and breeding in developing countries