Official Newsletter of the WANA Seed Network
No. 36, January 2009
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This section presents information on the WANA Seed Network, including network activities and reports of the meetings of the Steering Committee and the WANA Seed Council.
ECO Regional Seed Association
In last issue of Seed Info, we reported the birth of a new regional seed association representing 10 member countries of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) region comprising of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. ECO, FAO and ICARDA are working with Turkish Seed Industry Association and a 10 member Committee to draft bylaws for discussion at the next meeting planned in January 2008. The general assembly of the first congress will be held in 2009 .
ECO, FAO and ICARDA are working closely with member countries, and particularly the Government of Turkey to facilitate the formation of the regional seed association. The membership of the association will be open to all seed companies and service providers from ECO region and beyond.
Zewdie Bishaw, ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria; E-mail: z.bishaw@cgiar.org
ICARDA Organizes Regional Workshop on Plant Variety Protection
Plant variety protection (PVP) is a form of intellectual property protection to provide exclusive rights or ownership of varieties to plant breeders or seed companies. PVP encourages private investment in plant breeding and thereby increase the choice of varieties available to farmers. The majority of countries are expected to introduce a PVP system under TRIPS agreement of World Trade Organization. This could be part of government strategy to stimulate domestic and foreign private sector investment in crop improvement research. Likewise, it may also encourage foreign companies to introduce their varieties and technology to countries where protection is available.
Although introducing a PVP system is straight forward, the legal and technical procedures for implementing the law may have considerable implications on governments and the whole seed industry. Many countries in CWANA region lack PVP framework. It is therefore important to create an opportunity for dialogue among all stakeholders of the seed industry: NARS, public and private seed companies and the farming community at large.
The regional workshop will include key presentations, case studies, country reports and group discussions to come up with recommendations and action plans for implementation by national governments. Participating countries include both memebers and non-members of UPOV to share exepreinces: Afgahnistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan,,Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and Uzbekistan. For more information contact. Seed Section, Biodiversity and Integrated Gene Management, P. O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria; E-mail: z.bishaw@cgiar.org.