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t’s a story 23 years in the making, and it’s
not over just yet.
Way back in 1991, Canada joined the International
Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants—an
organization better known by its French acronym, UPOV.
UPOV’s mission is to craft an international framework for plant
breeders’ rights (PBR), a system to ensure those who develop
new plant varieties can protect and profit from their work.
Within a year of joining, Canada signalled its intent to
bring Canada’s Plant Breeders’ Rights Act in line with the
organization’s 1991 round of revisions, or “UPOV 91.”
Now, after more than two decades, it looks as if that's
finally about to happen. On December 9, the governing
Conservatives tabled an agriculture omnibus bill that includes
amendments to strengthen Canada’s PBR Act. Agriculture and
Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Minister Gerry Ritz hopes to see
changes to UPOV 91, contained within Bill C-18, the
Agricultural
Growth Act
, passed and implemented by Aug. 1, 2014.
Most Canadians have completely overlooked this story—
and, assuming you’ve managed to stay awake this far into
the article, you might understand why. We’re talking about
compliance versus non-compliance with a highly technical
and complex international agreement—not exactly the stuff of
tabloid headlines.
But, to many farmers and plant breeders, the move towards
UPOV 91 marks a turning point for Canadian agriculture, for
better or for worse. Some say it sacrifices Canadian farmers
at the altar of huge multinational corporations. Others argue
it secures our country’s rightful place at the forefront of
innovation.
UPOV91
Questions abound on issues of rights,
royalties and seeds. For Canada,
will the tale of UPOV 91 end happily
ever after?
Winter
2014
grainswest.com
27
by SCOTT ROLLANS • ILLUSTRATION by MICHAEL BYERS