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•19•05•2008•

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UKabc NOTICEBOARD

Updated 19 May 2008

 

UKabc: Bringing together Public Interest UK organisations concerned with Sustainable Use, Conservation, Benefit Sharing, Trade, Patents, Intellectual Property, Biopiracy, Biotechnology, Genetic Engineering, Biosafety and other issues related to the Equitable Use of Agricultural Biodiversity for Food Sovereignty and Local Food and Livelihood Security








KEY ISSUES COVERED BY THE UKabc


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The UKabc is concerned about Sustainable Use, Conservation, Trade and Intellectual Property (Farmers' Rights, Plant Breeders Rights, Patents, Seed Laws etc.), Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering and other issues related to the equitable use of Agricultural Biodiversity, especially:

Conservation and Sustainable Utilisation of Agricultural Biodiversity

Participation of food producers in the in situ conservation and development of agricultural biodiversity including domestic animal diversity (DAD) and aquatic diversity; utilisation of 'wild' foods and the hidden harvest; local ex situ conservation systems, seed saving and rare breed societies; the impact of gender, and especially women's key contribution. The UKabc supports the work of the Seed Security programme of PELUM in southern and eastern Africa.

Local Community Knowledge and Intellectual Property Systems

Community knowledge systems, including the full implementation of Farmers' Rights and Indigenous Peoples' Rights and the elimination of Biopiracy; intellectual property rights systems, including challenging the application of Patents (especially the European Patent Directive) and other Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) to plant and animal species, the development of Plant Breeders' Rights including the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants 1991 (UPOV 91); improving the legislative environment on seeds and animal breeds for small-scale producers and users of 'unlisted' or 'quasi-legal' varieties and breeds.


Biotechnology, Biosafety and Genetic Engineering

The UKabc has focused its biotechnology work on supporting the lobby on the proposed international Biosafety Protocol. The Biosafety Protocol, currently being negotiated under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity, will be an important international instrument that could, within the specific Jakarta Mandate for the negotiations, help towards ensuring the rights of countries to decide for themselves how they wish to develop their agriculture, to implement sustainable development, to protect their genetic resources, and to ensure food security, in the context of genetic engineering and the growing trade in genetically-engineered organisms and their products.


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