IPRs and Agriculture: South Asian Concerns

Anitha Ramanna
Additional contact information
Anitha Ramanna: Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Goregaon (East), Mumbai

South Asia Economic Journal, 2003, vol. 4, issue 1, 55-71

Abstract: Important concerns face South Asian countries in formulating their IPR policies in agriculture. The major issues include: the implications of IPRs on the price of seeds, the rise of bio-piracy; access of farmers to seeds and the impact of property rights on biodiversity. Various countries in the region are currently attempting to evolve a twin strategy of granting both plant breeders' rights (a form of IPR for plant varieties) with farmers' rights (rights of farmers to engage in and benefit from their agricultural practices). India is one of the first countries to have passed such a law, known as the Protec tion of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001. Pakistan has passed the Plant Breeders' Rights Ordinance, 2000. Bangladesh is proposing two legislations dealing with protection of plant varieties and community rights and Sri Lanka has proposed the Protection of New Plant Varieties (Breeders' Rights), 2001. Nepal, it is reported, is formulating a draft on Genetic Resource Access and Benefit Sharing. The twin strategy is a step towards trying to recognize farmers' rights, but its viability must also be closely evaluated. In framing their IPR legislations, South Asian countries must aim to grant rights tied to duties under the broader perspective of development. The South Asian countries, rather than focusing purely on inde pendent national legislations, could evolve a coordinated strategy that would pro vide greater benefits for the entire region.

Keywords: (JEL: 034) Keywords: Intellectual Property Rights; Farmers' Rights. Biodiversity; World Trade Organization. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/139156140300400105 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:soueco:v:4:y:2003:i:1:p:55-71

DOI: 10.1177/139156140300400105

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in South Asia Economic Journal from Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().