Intellectual property (IP) protection for plant variety and plant innovations has posited some critical challenges to the traditional approach to farmers’ rights. Traditionally, farmers have freely exercised their rights in using, re-using, sowing, re-sowing, saving and exchanging their farm-produced crops or seeds with other farmers. Thus, it is critical to look into why many countries around the world, including developing countries (such as Bangladesh) have adopted IP-type protection for plant variety and plant innovations which potentially disadvantages the farmers? Is it due to ‘hard factors’ (the formal legal obligations under bilateral or plurilateral systems) and/or because of ‘soft factors’ (informal pressures of the various actors, including agri-business industry)? In crafting the domestic legal framework, it may be asked: how should an agriculturally dependent country (like Bangladesh) strike a balance between its domestic needs and international legal obligations? Precisely on the farmers’ rights, how far are such domestic legal provisions capable of striking a balance between the plant breeders’ rights and farmers’ rights? What lessons, if any, could be learnt from other jurisdictions which have already implemented legal regimes on plant variety? Should the approach be legal transplantation or legal transformation? Against such backdrops, this contribution critically appraises the outstanding questions and controversies on farmers’ rights as reflected in the Plant Varieties Protection Act (PVP) 2019 of Bangladesh. In doing so, it highlights the current overlapping and conflicting international laws on plant variety and plant innovations. Finally, it particularly draws some insights from the legal rules and implementing experiences of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act 2001 of India.
Purchase
Pay to Access Content (PDF download and unlimited online access)
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your Elgar Online account
- INTRODUCTION
- 1 A SNAPSHOT OF FARMERS’ RIGHTS IN INTERNATIONAL LEGAL REGIMEs
- 2 BANGLADESH ADDRESSING TREATY OBLIGATIONS ON PLANT VARIETY AND FARMERS’ RIGHTS
- 3 A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE PLANT VARIETIES PROTECTION ACT 2019 OF BANGLADESH
- 4 AN APPRAISAL OF FARMERS’ RIGHTS IN THE PVP ACT OF BANGLADESH
- 4.1 Precise definition of farmers
- 4.2 Recognition of farmers’ variety
- 4.3 Recognition of farmers’ community rights
- 4.4 Explicit legal duty of authority to protect and promote farmers’ rights
- 4.5 Recognition of customary practices of farmers
- 4.6 Recognition of right to save and re-sow
- 4.7 Exclusion clause premised on farmers’ rights
- 4.8 Prohibition of terminator technology
- 4.9 Provisions for disclosure of origin
- 4.10 Legal provisions on compensation for aggrieved farmers
- 4.11 Provisions for claiming compensations on behalf of farmers
- 5 A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF FARMERS’ RIGHTS IN THE PVP ACT OF BANGLADESH
- 5.1 Why the omission of ‘farmers’ rights’ from the title?
- 5.2 No express provisions for farmers as breeders
- 5.3 No explicit provision for innocent infringers
- 5.4 No specific mechanisms for benefits sharing
- 5.6 No fund specifically targeting farmers’ and local interests
- 5.7 No exemption to farmers from fees and administrative costs
- 5.8 Challenges of implementing farmers’ rights
- 6 CONCLUSION
| Since 2022 | Since May 2022 | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 687 | 687 | 34 |
| Full Text Views | 91 | 91 | 2 |
| PDF Downloads | 28 | 28 | 2 |
