IR

PepsiCo Controversy: Globally, India Has Always Refused to Give in on IPR on Plant Varieties

·         India could be a member of multilateral trade rules, the world Trade Organisation (WTO), since 1995.

·         One of the World Trade Organization agreements, specifically the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of intellectual property Rights (TRIPS), introduced the concept of intellectual property rights (IPR) on life forms as a world minimum standard.

·         It was due to the push of the seed, drug company and biotech corporations that the trips Agreement was place within the World Trade Organization.

·         The move had no social backing in india, significantly from farmers. whereas the trips Agreement still came to be, we chose to opt out of patents on plants, using Article 27(3)(b) of trips that enables World Trade Organization members to exclude plants from patentability.

·         Section 3(j) of the Indian Patents Act makes it clear that plants, together with seeds, varieties and species, and essentially biological processes for production or propagation of plants arent inventions.

·         India therefore doesnt subscribe patents on plants and provides for IPR through plant variety protection (PVP) instead.

·         That is that the purpose of genesis of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001, that is an IPR law.

·         The International treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) The International pact on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) is that the international law that recognises farmers’ contributions in PGR for food and farming.

·         The pact entered into force in 2004.

·         It has specific provisions on Farmers’ Rights in Article nine. india may be a member of the seed written agreement and has provided for farmers’ rights in its domestic legislation.

·         The Registrar General of the PPV&FR Authority may be a co-chair of the Technical skilled category set up under the written agreement to convey counselling to member countries on a way to effectively implement farmers’ rights.

·         The Registrar General is additionally the registrar in charge of farmer rights within the country. Peasant declaration Pushed by its Human Rights Council, in Dec 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a declaration on the rights of peasants and people operating in rural areas.

·         This was the results of a 17-year-long method, initiated by the international peasant movement La via Campesina, supported by various social movements and allied organisations.

·         Article nineteen of the declaration is devoted to farmers’ seed rights. This includes the correct to save lots of, use, exchange and sell their farm-saved seed or propagating material.

·         Under the declaration, states need to make sure that seed policies, plant variety protection and different intellectual property laws, respect and take into account the rights, wants and realities of smallholder farmers.

·          The Indian government voted for this declaration.

·         Treaty on Transnational Corporation (TNC’s) This alliance for a binding treaty on Transnational Corporation (TNC’s) gathers global networks and alliances, which collectively represent more than 500 groups world-wide who are determined to stop corporate human rights violations.

·         In 2014, the united nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution “to establish an open-ended intergovernmental social group on transnational companies and different business enterprises with reference to human rights, whose mandate shall be to elaborate a world lawfully binding instrument to manage, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational firms and different business enterprises.”

·         The Indian delegation, which includes the Ministry for company Affairs, has studied the zero draft thoroughly and is of the opinion that thorough and elaborate deliberations on various parts of the draft are needed.

·         Nonetheless, its expressed commitment to the negotiations. to understand regarding Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Authority, please refer Dec 2021 DPN.