Legal and Historical Perspective of Plant Breeders Rights Act of Pakistan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69971/xw94g107Keywords:
Intellectual property, Pakistan, TRIPS, UPOV, Plant Variety, Plant Breeders Rights ActAbstract
Pakistan is an agricultural country and numerous plant varieties have been developed indigenously by local scientists. There was a long felt need to introduce any sort of protection mechanism for these novel plant varieties to protect the research and development (R&D). Being a World Trade Organization (WTO) member, Pakistan acceded to the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement in 1995, and since then, legislation was due to protect the rights of breeders of new plant varieties. In 2016, the Government of Pakistan passed the Plant Breeder’s Rights Act (PBRA), in alignment with the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants Convention of 1991 (UPOV), balancing the interests of biotechnology companies and traditional plant breeders. The current study highlights Pakistan's strengths and areas that still require improvement to meet the nation's demands for plant variety protection.
References
Bamakan, S. M., Nezhadsistani, N., Bodaghi, O., & Qu, Q. “Patents and intellectual property assets as nonfungible tokens; key technologies and challenges”. Scientific Reports 12, no.2178 (2022):1-13.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05920-6.
Bokhari, A. “Breeders bill rushed through NA panel”. Dawn. 11 January (2016).
https://www.dawn.com/news/1232026 (Accessed 20 December 2023).
Brahmi, P., Saxena, S., & Dhillon, B. S. “The protection of plant varieties and farmers rights act of India”.
Current Science 86, no.3 (2004): 392-398.
https://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/86/03/0392.pdf .
Correa, C. M. “Patent protection for plants: legal options for developing countries”. South Centre (2014).
https://www.southcentre.int/research-paper-55-november-2014/ (Accessed 20 December 2023).
Gao, Y. “Protection and sharing of wild plant resources and intellectual property issues”. Molecular Plant
Breeding 21, no.17 (2023):5854-5858.
Jafri, S. K., Imran, M., & Asif, M. H. “Investigating Pakistan’s seed industry dynamics”. State Bank of
Pakistan (2022). https://www.sbp.org.pk/index.html (Accessed 23 December 2023).
Jördens, R. “Progress of plant variety protection based on the international convention for the protection
of new varieties of plants (UPOV Convention)”. World Patent Information 27, no.3 (2005):232–243.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wpi.2005.03.004.
Liu, L. “Study on Legal Issues of Biological Genetic Resources Protection in Yunnan”. Kunming University of
Science and Technology, (2009).
Liu, M. “Intellectual Property protection in the transformation of plant protection research achievements:
present situation, challenges and prospects”. Science of Law Journal 2, no.6 (2023):66-75.
https://dx.doi.org/10.23977/law.2023.020609.
Mubeen, M., & Rehman, H.A. “Protection of plant varieties in compliance with Pakistan’s response to
international obligations”. VFAST Transactions on Education and Social Sciences 10, no.1 (2022): 317-
Nazeer, A. “Punjab Land Tenancy Act 1950, review, analysis and proposed measures for land reforms”.
Institute of Development Research and Corresponding Capabilities, Islamabad, Pakistan (2015).
Peer, M. “Senate body approves Plant Breeders Rights Act”. The Express Tribune. 7 January (2016).
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1023147/senate-body-approves-plant-breedersrights-act/ (Accessed
December 2023).
Ramanna, A. “India’s plant variety and farmers’ rights legislation: potential impact on stake holder’s access
to genetic resources”. EPTD Discussion Paper No.96 (2003). International Food Policy Research
Institute (IFPRI). https://ideas.repec.org/p/fpr/eptddp/96.html .
Rana, M.A. “The seed industry in Pakistan: regulation, politics and entrepreneurship”. Pakistan Strategy
Support Program Working Paper no. 19(2014). International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
https://ideas.repec.org/p/fpr/psspwp/19.html .
Ranjan, P. “Recent developments in India's plant variety protection, seed regulation and linkages with
UPOV's proposed membership”. The Journal of World Intellectual Property 12, no. 3(2009):219-243.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1796.2009.00365.x.
Rehman, H. A., & Mubeen, M. “Development and progression of regulatory framework associated with
seed sector in Pakistan”. The Dialogue 12, no.4 (2017):441-458.
https://www.qurtuba.edu.pk/thedialogue/The%20Dialogue/12_4/Dialogue_October_December20
_441-458.pdf.
Sadeque, N. “The great agricultural hoax. Karachi: Shirkat Gah, seed heritage for sale”. The Nation.19
November (2008).
Sanderson, J. “Why UPOV is relevant, transparent and looking to the future: a conversation with peter
button”. Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice 8, no. 8 (2013):615- 623.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jiplp/jpt112.
Sial, A. “Fight over agricultural registry delaying PBRA”. Pakistan Today. 6 March (2016).
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2016/03/06/fight-over-agricultural-registrydelaying-pbra/
(Accessed 23 December 2023).
Silva, A.F., Sediyama, T., Borem, A., da Silva, F.L., dos Santos Silva, F.C., & Bezerra, A.R.G. Registration and
protection of cultivars. In: Soybean Breeding; Silva, L. F., Borém, A., Sediyama, T., & Ludke, W. Eds.;(Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, Springer: 2017):427–440. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-
-2_23 .
Yazdani, A. T., & Ali, N. “Seed policy in Pakistan: The impact of new laws on food sovereignty and sustainable
development”. Lahore Journal of Policy Studies 7, no. 1(2017):77–106.
https://ecommons.aku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1296&context=pakistan_ied_pdck .
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
