Intellectual Property and Agri-Biotech
From A2K Wiki
Contents |
Panelists
Speakers
- Fleur Claessens - Programme Officer - Intellectual Property, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD)
- Daniel Kevles - Stanley Woodward Professor of History, Yale University
- Susan Sell - Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University
- Dalindyebo Shabalala - Staff Attorney and Director, Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development Project, Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
Moderator
- Andrea Glorioso - Assistant Researcher, Politecnico di Torino
A2K2 Conference Organizer
- Jason Pielemeier - Student Fellow, Information Society Project, Yale Law School
Panel Description
Agriculture, aquaculture, horticulture and/or other farming-related activities are the backbone of many communities throughout the developed and developing world. Productivity in these fields is obviously crucial to people in rural areas, but agricultural issues also affect urban dwellers and indeed entire populations. Agriculture is fundamentally linked to economic stability, social development, food security and human health. Lives and livelihoods depend upon access to agricultural knowledge.
Over the last several decades, intellectual property rights (IPRs) have begun to influence the agricultural sector in new and unprecedented ways. Bio and nano technological innovations have opened revolutionary possibilities, from disease-, drought- and insect- resistant crops to nutritionally enhanced foods and plant-based vaccines. Along with these new technologies have come new rights regimes, stake holders and uncertainties. IPRs over seeds and other products are clashing with classic property rights over land. Due to industrial concentration and economic integration, some stand to gain more than others from these advances. Intellectual property standard setting has played a significant role in this process. Access and benefit sharing is the subject of contentious debate in various forums.
As nations struggle to address genetically modified crop (GMC)-related issues within their own particular economic, social and political contexts, they are increasingly influenced by norms and obligations established in international treaties that often serve diverse interests both inside and outside of the agricultural sector (the WTO/TRIPS, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the ‘International Seed Treaty’ amongst others).
Questions to be cosidered by the panel include:
- What lessons can we learn from the history of the expansion of IPRs over plant matter? To what extent is the expansion of IPRs over living matter inevitable or irreversable in the North? Should it be resisted in the South?
- The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has adopted the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). Will its multilateral system of benefit sharing and standard material transfer agreement work in practice? Is it inferior or preferable to the bilateral regime established under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)?
- What will happen to the rights of farmers or members of local indigenous communities? What can be done to facilitate access to knowledge and technology, yet at the same time preserve biodiversity and traditional cultures?
- What degree of weight should public health and environmental concerns be given in WTO dispute resolution processes concerning GMCs?
- How much influence do consumer/farmer/environmental groups have on domestic and international policy regarding GMCs? How much influence do large agro-industrial companies have?
Hi, I'm interested to hear if the panelists have any comments on the use of patent rights elsewhere in the circuit of agricultural production. For example there is a lot of research taking place these days around so-called 'digital agriculture', involving extensive use of remote sensing and mapping technologies. These changes will intensify the difficulties already facing small farmers . While the battle over control of seeds and other material inputs has been the main fight in recent years (and one unjustly neglected by those in other areas of IP) I think we need to take a more integrated approach and analyse how IP impacts at different points on the productive cycle.
alan toner
Speaker Presentation Slides
Remote Questions for Panelists
Notes
Resources and papers
Articles
I just wanted to let people get a chance to see the idea of Community-Based Property Rights issues. Take a look at it and let me know what you think. Here is the link:
http://www.ciel.org/Publications/cbpr.pdf
