Fight over agricultural registry delaying PBRA

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After passing through many hoops during the last fifteen years, the draft Plant Breeders Rights Act (PBRA), which recognizes intellectual property rights (IPR) in agriculture, has gotten stuck in another quagmire, this time a Lilliputian one between the Intellectual Property Rights Organisation Pakistan (IPOP) and Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFSR).

An official source said both organisations want to retain control over the national agriculture registry (NAR) that will play an important role in granting IPR to any invention in the agriculture sector.

IPOP which works under the Cabinet Division wants to have (NAR) under its jurisdiction while the MNFSR wants to retain it under its wing. The Cabinet Division is of the opinion that it should be retained under the Ministry, the source said adding that two meetings have failed to resolve the issue and a third one is expected next week.

Except for a few countries, the agriculture registry is kept at the agricultural ministry. In India it is maintained at the agriculture ministry but in Singapore it is maintained by their IPO organisation. In major agriculture producing countries the registry is maintained at the ministry level. However, IPOP argues that it would be better if the registry was maintained at a neutral organisation, the source added.

The PBRA was drafted in the second Nawaz government in 1999. The bill was introduced in the parliament for approval but the house was dissolved before that could happen. Then the complete exercise was repeated in the Musharraf era. Before the bill could be passed the tenure of the assembly ended.

The bill was again presented to the PPP government in 2008. The government directed approval from all the provincial governments even though it was already twice approved by the provinces. All the reservations of the provinces were addressed by 2015. Then the bill was reintroduced in the parliament.

PBRA, the source said, will result in an immediate investment of over $500 million in the agriculture sector, primarily the seed sector. Implementation of new rules will allow entry of quality seeds for cash crops like cotton and sugarcane. It would allow entry of second and third generation BT cotton seeds in the country.

The Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture has already approved it while the National Standing Committee on Agriculture is likely to approve the bill once the decision on the registry is settled, the source added.

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