Bio piracy and Bio prospecting Farmers Rights

and Plant Breeder Rights Biodiversity

Prepared By:

Syed Dawood Shah

Mirpur University Of Science & Technology AJK Pakistan

MUST

2017/5/15 1

From the root words “bio” and “piracy”, biopiracy literallymeans “the patenting of life.”

Genetic materials from plants, animals, and otherbiological resources that have long been identified anddeveloped, are being “owned” by companies andmanufacturers through patents.

In Short, Collection of genetic materials are usually takenwithout prior consent.

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Biopiracy is the illegal appropriation of life microorganisms,plants and animals (including humans) and the traditionalcultural knowledge that accompanies it.

It is illegal because, in violation of internationalconventions and corresponding domestic laws, it does notrecognize, respect or adequately compensate the rightfulowners of the life forms appropriated or the traditionalknowledge related to their propagation, use andcommercial benefit.

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Traditional Knowledge Biopiracy

Genetic Resource Biopiracy

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Traditional knowledge (TK) is the long-standing traditions and practices ofindigenous peoples and communities.These traditions and practices passedon from generation to generation caninclude different aspects of a particularculture, including the arts and farmingtechniques.

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Genetic Resource Biopiracy is the wayto use and practices of indigenouspeoples and communities by usingGenetic resources instead ofTraditions.

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Bioprospecting, also known as biodiversityprospecting, is the exploration of biologicalmaterial for commercially valuable genetic andbiochemical properties.In simple terms this means the investigation of

living things to see how they can be commerciallyuseful to humans

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When biodiversity or related knowledge iscollected without permission from the owners ofthese resources and then patented, it is known asbiopiracy.Traditional or indigenous knowledge (IK).

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The underlying aim of bio prospecting is to findnew resources and products from nature that canbe used by humans.Improving human health, through both medicineand better nutrition are key focal areas.It plays a dominant role in discovering leads fordrug development, since existing/knowncompounds for developing drugs for human useare limited.

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Due to the competition in thepharmaceutical and agriculturalarea, big companies do not havetime to collect samples legally, sothey engage in biopiracy in orderto be the first to patent biologicalmaterial.

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Plant variety protection provides legalprotection of a plant variety to abreeder in the form of Plant breeder’srights.

Plant breeders' rights (PBR), alsoknown as plant variety rights (PVR),are rights granted to the breeder of anew variety of plant that give themexclusive control over the propagatingmaterial (including seed, cuttings,divisions, tissue culture) andharvested material (cut flowers, fruit,foliage) of a new variety for a numberof year.

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With these rights, the breedercan choose to become theexclusive marketer of the variety,or to license the variety toothers. In order to qualify forthese exclusive rights by plantbreeders' rights, a variety mustbe new, distinct, uniform andstable.

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A variety is: New if it has not been commercialized for more than one

year in the country of protection; Distinct if it differs from all other known varieties by one or

more important botanical characteristics, such as height,maturity, color, etc.;

Uniform if the plant characteristics are consistent from plantto plant within the variety;

Stable if the plant characteristics are genetically fixed andtherefore remain the same from generation to generation, orafter a cycle of reproduction in the case of hybrid varieties.

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Farmer’s rights are the traditional rights farmershave on the seeds or the propagating material ofplant varieties. This right arises from the importantrole farmers have been playing to conserve andenrich varieties and the knowledge they hold on thetotal genetic variability of the country.

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The rights of both commercial plant breeders and farmers inrespect of their contribution made in conserving, improvingand making available plant genetic resources fordevelopment of new plant varieties and to encourage thedevelopment of new plants varieties.

Protection of the plant varieties under the Act acceleratesagricultural development and stimulates investment forresearch and development for the development of new plantvarieties which in turn facilities the growth of the seedindustry and ensures the availability of high quality seedsand plant in material to the farmers.2017/5/15 15

The owner of the protected variety has thefollowing rights:

To produce To Sell To market To distribute To import and To export the variety.

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The salient features of Farmers Rights as described inPPV&FR Act, 2001 are as followings:

1. A farmer who has bred or developed a newvariety shall be entitled for registration and otherprotection in like manner as a breeder of a varietyunder this Act.2. The farmer’s variety shall be entitled forregistration if the application contains declarations asspecified in clause (h) of sub-section 18.

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3. A farmer who is engaged in the conservation ofgenetic resources of land races and wild relatives ofeconomic plants and their improvement throughselection and preservation shall be entitled in theprescribes manner for recognition and reward fromthe Gene Fund, under this act.4. A farmer shall be deemed to be entitled to save,use, exchange, share or sell his farm produce includingseed of a variety protected under this Act in the samemanner as he was entitled before the coming in theforce this Act.2017/5/15 18

1. Right on Seed2. Farmers’ Right to Register

Traditional Varieties3. Farmers’ Right for Reward

and Recognition4. Farmers’ Right for Benefit

Sharing5. Farmers’ Right for the Seeds

of Registered Varieties

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Biopiracy alters the environment, which in turn causesBiodiversity depletion

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1. Biopiracy alters the environment,which in turn causes Biodiversitydepletion.

2. Food security is affected as biodiversityis a “safety net” that increases foodsecurity.

3. Loss of biodiversity, which issometimes irreversible, often means aloss of choices.

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4. Greater wildlife diversity maydecrease the spread of manywildlife pathogens to humans.

5. In addition to agriculture,biodiversity contributes to arange of other sectors, including –fisheries

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Thank you

Mirpur University of science and Technology

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