STAKEHOLDERS REJECT PROPOSED PLANT BREEDERS RIGHTS DRAFT BILL

 STAKEHOLDERS REJECT PROPOSED PLANT BREEDERS RIGHTS DRAFT BILL 

...claiming the Bill serves the corporate interest and a threat to good governance,farmers rights,country's food sovereignty and nutrition.

Picture for illustrations purposes

By Alfonso Kasongo

A collaborative network of concerned citizens, civil society groups, faith and farmer-based organisations, working together to strengthen the growing movement for agroecology and food sovereignty in Zambia through advocacy has rejected the proposed new Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) Bill,saying it is inappropriate for the country and must not be enacted.

The Zambia Alliance for Agro-ecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB) observes that  the proposed new seed law is a threat to country's food sovereignty ,good governance and promotion of farmers' rights.  

The Alliance says, once enacted in its current form, the Bill will provide conducive environment to increased multinational seed companies' influence and control of the seed system in the country hence posing serious threats not only on food sovereignty and principal of good governance but also nutrition at both national and household levels as it will compromise country's seed diverse.

Network Chairperson, Vladimir Chilinya says the Alliance is concerned...." the new PBR Bill has not been initiated by national interest but by multinational seed companies with the backing of their foreign governments whose sole motive is the money to be made in controlling and owning Zambia’s (and Africa’s) diverse seeds."

In a statement made available to the Editorial News,Mr. chilinya states that the new PBR Bill also aims to facilitate Zambia’s membership to the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), an intergovernmental organization based in Geneva, Switzerland established in 1961 by the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants.

UPOV provides a system that enables plant breeders to protect their innovations and obtain a return on their investment in developing varieties. This, in turn, encourages them to continue investing in their plant breeding programs.

Mr. Chilinya,however, alleges that UPOV is a union which "discriminates against small scale farmers, targeting them unnecessarily with substantial fees and policing mechanisms, as well as criminalising Farmers’ Rights to save, share and re-use seeds." 

"A proposed new Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) Bill, availed to Zambian stakeholders on the 15th of  April 2024 for consultations starting 18th April, aims at explicitly providing increased control and market benefit of multinational seed companies, and goes against all principles of good governance, national interest and Farmers’ Rights," the statement read in parts.

In 2016, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food wrote to the Zambian Government, expressing concern regarding the considerable negative impacts of UPOV in relation to fulfilling the right to food in Africa.

The statement further reads... ZAAB and other SKI3 Zambia partners participated in the so-called stakeholder consultationsin Lusaka, to understand the Seed Certification and Control Institutes’ (SCCI) justification and again express concerns. The discussion was affirmed the concerning justification noted in the preamble of the new Bill, which is being repealed and replaced based on joining a foreign union – or more realistically a club. Not because of national demand and/or interest, not because there is necessity as Zambia is fully legally compliant already, and not factoring in the resulting restrictions on Farmers’ Rights and local livelihoods.

WE THEREFORE DO NOT ENDORSE THIS BILL AND ITS PROCESSES.

There is in fact no compelling reason for repealing the current PBR Act which was only enacted in 2007 and has not yet been fully implemented. Commitments to ensure the equal protection of Farmers’ Rights, as opposed to private Breeders’ Rights, as per International Obligations under the ITPGRFA4 are long outstanding. 

FURTHER NOTING:

• Zambia’s current PBR Act (2007) is already in line with the WTO TRIPS5 Agreement and adequately protects Breeders’ Rights, therefore no further revisions in line with UPOV91 standards or any other regional harmonisation, need be made.

• Acceding to UPOV1991 will instead contravene Zambia’s obligations under international and regional treaties and frameworks that it has adopted or ratified. These require protection of agrobiodiversity and Farmers’ Rights, such as the ITPGRFA, the Convention on Biological

Diversity (CBD), and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Living in Rural Areas (UNDROP).

• The new Bill, aligned to UPOV will instead further the increasing corporate control and concentration in Zambia’s seed and food systems. It will facilitate the policing of farmers 

(large and small scale) activities, funnelling resources out of Zambia to MNCs that already control the majority of the seed sector. It will disadvantage the potential of Zambia’s local seed industry and local adaptation needs. It will limit the policy and practical options of government in building a sustainable green economy.

• There is already an issue of high costs of commercially bred seeds, resulting in the challenge to access by many smallholder farmers. Farmer managed seed systems are a critical source of affordable seeds. Further restricting such systems pose a significant threat to food and nutrition security.