'Amendment to global treaty on plant resources will hand over seed sovereignty to big companies'

Bengaluru: Days after farmer activists expressed concern over proposed amendments to law protecting plant varieties, the India Seed Sovereignty Alliance has urged the prime minister and other leaders to push back against the proposed amendments to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA).

The global treaty between over 150 countries came into force in June 2004 and was negotiated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United States and has its own governing body. The treaty aims to enhance food security through exchange and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.

The amendments are proposed at the ongoing governing body meeting in Lima, Peru from November 24 to November 29. "The most concerning amendment is the proposal to sweepingly expand the scope of the Multi-Lateral System (MLS) of free global access – as listed in Annexure 1 – from the earlier 64 crops to now include all plant genetic resources; as also their Digital Sequence Information (DSI)," said the open letter from Alliance signed by its convenor Jacob Nellithanam and four others.

The Alliance said the amendment is tantamount to handing over in a platter all the genetic treasures of the global south to the rich companies of the global north which benefit from intellectual property rights. It said the companies have shown that prioritise profit over people while neglecting ecological health and sustainability. "Already, over 54% of the global trade in seeds is monopolized by just four giant agri-business multinationals that rake in many billions from struggling farmers worldwide," the letters aid.

Violation of seed sovereignty

The letter said that the current provision in the treaty allowing access to 64 crops has already led to loss of seed sovereignty for original producers. "There are over 66 lakh transfers from 22 lakh variety accessions. Yet, there has been no traceability or reporting back to the original providers of what has happened with these transfers of the plant genetic resources," the letter said.

The genetic sequences of these seeds have been digitised and such digital sequence information (DSI) has been used to create intellectual property rights (IPR) portfolios of corporations.

Without a bar on the use of such information obtained through MLS to claim IPRs, the letter noted, use of or sharing of the DSI of our plant genetic resources amounts to complicity in the bio-piracy of our resources. "The website of ITPGRFA indicates that India has provided till date more than 400,000 samples of various crops and plants, while it is unclear what India has benefited," it said.

Urging all nations of the global south to oppose the amendment to Annex 1 of ITPGRFA to include all plant genetic resources, it suggested several measures they can take at the convention to protect the genetic resources of the global south.