NEW COLORS, AROMAS AND GREATER PERFORMANCE

HOW IS PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION EVOLVING?

Innovation and intellectual property rights have been key in the development of agriculture. IP protection was initially limited to farming tools but as the sector developed protection was expanded to seeds as well. Innovation in the area of seeds have been a cornerstone to improve yields, eradicate plant diseases and guarantee food safety. Patent and Patent like rights have been afforded to the likes to breeders, developers and owners of plant varieties to ensure that they benefit and are able to recover research costs. This panel will cover and explain why IP protection is key to fuel innovation in agriculture and will also discuss the balancing of rights that allow innovators to protect their rights while also establishing mechanisms on access to genetic resources, rules and procedures for prior informed consent and benefit sharing obligations, all which ensure clear rules on access of genetic resources by breeders and innovators while ensuring benefit sharing obligations with local stakeholders.