Protection of Plant Varieties in the Middle East | ABOU NAJA

Plant numbers have dipped dramatically in the last few years, and even those species we thought were abundant and safe now face an imminent threat of extinction.

 

The protection of plant varieties refers to the IP rights given to new plant breeders. These rights help drive economic growth and food security. Read on.

Plant Variety Protection, also called Breeder’s Rights, refers to the intellectual rights given to plant breeders. The rights cover the protection of new plant varieties in relation to the use of the protected plant varieties.

To clarify, plant breeding is the process of creating genetic variations of plants that perpetuate desirable traits in a way that can be reproduced. As such, breeders can obtain patents, trademarks, and industrial designs that establish their ownership over legally approved new plant varieties. In this way, intellectual property laws encourage the breeding and discovery of new plant varieties.

Plant breeder rights were first recognized by the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) in 1961 stating,

• Plant breeder rights were first recognised by the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) in 1961, which stated, “Variety means 918kiss a plant grouping within a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank, which grouping, regardless of whether the conditions for the grant of a breeder’s rights are fully met, can be defined by the expression of the characteristics exhibited by the plant.” Many revisions have been made since then, with nations all around the world either joining UPOV or enacting equivalent laws on their own.

Subsequently, many amendments have been made with countries all over the world either joining UPOV or adopting similar laws locally.

Why is Plant Variety Protection Important?

Plant breeding affects many sectors from floral varieties with longer vase life or bigger flower heads. To drought or pest-resistant plants, or even bigger, juicier, seedless fruit varieties. Needless to say, plant breeding is a multi-billion dollar industry.

However, breeding new plant varieties requires substantial capital, manpower, and patience. In fact, it can take over ten years to bring a viable, sustainable, stable, and homogeneous new plant variety to market. As such, intellectual property rights make it worthwhile for breeders to invest their time and effort in creating new plant varieties.

Plant Variety Protection in the Middle East

As land reclamation and new agricultural practices come into play, the Middle East has a growing interest in the protection of plant varieties in the region. In addition, as the world is struck by growing climate change, food security is a growing government concern. 

The COVID-19 pandemic as well revealed the inherent vulnerability that comes from being dependent on imports as the primary food source supply. As such, the Middle East has much to gain from encouraging plant breeding within the region.