UPOV – plant breeders’ rights
Appropriation of biodiversity is also
facilitated through so called plant
breeders rights established in the UPOV 91
convention. It denies the rights of farmers
to save their own seeds while neglecting to
recognize their inherent rights acquired
through their special relationship with
biodiversity. Among other negative impacts,
it allows companies to take over the
national institutional framework for plant
breeding. UPOV and its soft patents
represent a mechanism that provides private
monopoly rights over life forms, and as
such, allows the privatization of our
genetic richness, which is a public
good.
