Skip Geneva agriculture talks to protect farmers, gov't urged

A PKR MP has urged the government against attending and ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants 1991 (Upov 1991) in Geneva next month, as it will negatively impact Malaysian farmers.

The convention “aims to provide and promote an effective system of plant variety protection to encourage the development of new varieties of plants around the world”, it states on the website.

“Any decisions made (in Geneva), like setting up an intellectual property rights system for new plant varieties, for example, will only benefit plant breeders and researchers from developed nations,” PKR’s Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul said in a statement.

Such decisions will also demand drastic changes to be made to Malaysian legislation, he said.

Malaysia already has a Protection of New Plant Varieties Act 2004 that protects local farmers’ ability to breed new plant varieties, he said.

“All this goes against the interests of local farmers and agricultural researchers,” Johari added.

He also expressed concern over Malaysia becoming more reliant on large foreign agricultural corporations at the expense of local farmers.

He demanded Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek to state his position on the matter.

In addition to Johari’s concerns, local farmers and a consumer group have also voiced concerns over the government’s involvement in the convention.

The Mada Farmers’ Action Committee said participation in Upov 1991 would lead to greater dependence on foreign-sourced seeds from big corporations, thus increasing prices of plant-based food and possibly affecting food security in Malaysia, Free Malaysia Today reported.

The Consumer Association of Penang added that the convention could undermine crop diversity and undermine farmers’ rights.

Ratifying Upov 1991 is a requirement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), which Malaysia is negotiating. Malaysia has yet to sign Upov 1991 but has plans to.

Upov 1991 prohibits farmers from exchanging seeds and requires intellectual property (IP) protection for all plant varieties.- Mkini