TWN Info Service on Sustainable Agriculture
17 June 2022
Third World Network
www.twn.my
Dear Friends and Colleagues
UN Special Rapporteur: Recognize Farmers’ Rights to Seeds as Human Rights
Because seeds are so central to people’s cultures and food systems, to control seeds is to control life. Today, broadly, there are two different types of seed systems: farmers’ seed systems and commodity seed systems. Farmers’ seed systems make food systems more resilient against climate change, pests and pathogens. The right to food is inherently tied to farmers’ seed systems. Commodity seed systems, in contrast, are dedicated to the reproduction of homogenous varieties dependent on chemicals; the main purpose is to make profits. Yet they rely on farmers’ seed systems (and naturally occurring biodiversity) to provide the raw material.
Farmers’ seed systems depend on the right of farmers to freely save, use, exchange and sell seeds. When countries buttress commodity seed systems and do not adequately protect and support farmers’ seed systems, they destabilize ecosystems and violate people’s human rights. The concentration of corporate power in food systems has made communities vulnerable to harm caused by ecological degradation and pesticides. Global South communities are disproportionately harmed, especially smallholder farmers/peasants, indigenous peoples, women, children and agricultural workers.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, recently presented his report on Seeds, right to life and farmers’ rights to the UN Human Rights Council. He recommends that Member States recognize, support and reward smallholder farmers/peasants and indigenous peoples as stewards of seed systems for all of humankind. Thus, their national laws should recognize farmers’ rights as human rights, and establish farmers’ rights as the fundamental aspect of their national seed system.
In particular, national seed systems should protect farmers’ and indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge against exploitation resulting from the application of intellectual property rights, and fulfil their right to freely save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seeds as an indivisible and fundamental right. They should also fulfil farmers’ and indigenous peoples’ right to participate equitably in all systems of benefit-sharing and in decision-making regarding all laws, policies and practices related to seeds.
In addressing the issue of intellectual property rights, he calls on the Human Rights Council to “take note that intellectual property rights and commodity seed systems are often implemented in a way that threatens human rights”. He recommends that Member States not pressure other Member States to join the UPOV Convention, and that bilateral or regional agreements should not require Parties to those agreements to join UPOV.
The Special Rapporteur also recommends the transition to agroecology and the gradual phase out of pesticides, starting with the phasing out and banning of highly hazardous pesticides. In this regard, he strongly recommends that the FAO Council review the agreement with CropLife International (the pesticides industry body) with an eye to human rights concerns and consider directing the Director-General of FAO to rescind the agreement.
We reproduce below the conclusion and recommendations of the report.
With best wishes,
Third World Network
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Human Rights Council Forty-ninth session 28 February–1 April 2022
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development
SEEDS, RIGHT TO LIFE AND FARMERS’ RIGHTS
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri
https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3956872?ln=en
IV. Conclusion and recommendations
93. Flourishing and resilient seed systems are key to the full realization of the rights to life and to food. The concentration of corporate power in food systems has made communities vulnerable to harm caused by ecological degradation and pesticides. Global South communities are disproportionately harmed, especially smallholder farmers/peasants, indigenous peoples, women, children and agricultural workers.
94. The challenge for Member States is that the current international and national legal landscape creates potentially divergent obligations and risks human rights violations. Establishing a robust farmers’ seed system is made urgent if a State intends to include or has already included intellectual property rights as part of their national seed system.
95. For Member States to meet target 2.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Special Rapporteur has provided a framework to cohere and advance farmers’, indigenous peoples’ and workers’ rights and ensure that the world’s seed systems are diverse and safe and fulfil the rights to life and food.
96. The Human Rights Council should:
(a) Reaffirm that farmers’, indigenous peoples’ and workers’ rights are human rights;
(b) Recognize smallholder farmers/peasants and indigenous peoples as stewards of seed systems for all of humankind in line with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas;
(c) Take note that intellectual property rights and commodity seed systems are often implemented in a way that threatens human rights.
97. Member States should:
(a) Recognize, support and reward smallholder farmers/peasants and indigenous peoples as stewards of seed systems for all of humankind;
(b) Invest in research and development to maintain and build sustainable farmers’ seed systems;
(c) Avoid any funding, training and technical or capacity-building exclusively focused on commodity seed systems;
(d) Develop and interpret their seed and plant variety protection laws and policies based on the fact that fully realized farmers’ rights are a precondition for any type of fair economic system.
98. As such, Member States should ensure that their national laws:
(a) Recognize farmers’ rights as human rights;
(b) Establish farmers’ rights as the fundamental aspect of their national seed system;
(c) In cases of national systems comprised of farmers’ and commodity seed systems, conduct regular human rights impact assessments;
(d) Prioritize the full realization of farmer’s rights.
99. Member States should base their national seed systems on the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and human rights law as articulated in instruments such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. To this end, they should, as a minimum:
(a) Protect farmers’ and indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge against exploitation resulting from the application of intellectual property rights. This includes implementing measures that guarantee that any community’s knowledge cannot be shared or used in any way without the community’s free, prior and informed consent;
(b) Fulfil farmers’ and indigenous peoples’ right to freely save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seeds as an indivisible and fundamental right;
(c) Fulfil farmers’ and indigenous peoples’ right to participate equitably in all systems of benefit-sharing. All benefit-sharing mechanisms should be based on principles of protecting traditional knowledge and redistributing benefits back into the hands of farmers and indigenous peoples. In this regard, States should support local community seed libraries as the principal means to develop and fulfil farmers’ rights. States are also encouraged to better support the multilateral system under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture;
(d) Respect and support farmers’ and indigenous peoples’ right to participate in decision-making regarding all laws, policies and practices that address matters such as seed release, seed registration, seed commercialization laws, access and benefitsharing laws, plant variety protection laws and trade laws at the national level. This includes providing farmers with an opportunity to jointly design mechanisms intended to respect, protect and fulfil farmers’ rights.
100. In order to ensure a stable multilateral system based on human rights, cooperation and solidarity, Member States should consider:
(a) Not pressuring other Member States to join the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants in any way. Being a party to that Convention should no longer be required as part of bilateral or regional agreements. Member States are strongly encouraged to remove such requirements from current agreements;
(b) Ensuring that human rights are at the core of all negotiations around global governance for digital sequence information and that farmers’ rights are the basis for the design of any access and benefit-sharing mechanisms;
(c) Ratifying and implementing all relevant International Labour Organization conventions on occupational health and safety and implementing recommendations and codes of practice related to the protection of workers from exposure to hazardous substances in the workplace;
(d) Cooperating to transition to agroecology and gradually phase out pesticides, starting with the phasing out and banning of highly hazardous pesticides.
101. The FAO Council is strongly encouraged to review the agreement with CropLife International with an eye to human rights concerns and to consider directing the Director-General of FAO to rescind the agreement.
102. The Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is:
(a) Invited to consider the present report as a guide when interpreting the inventory of national measures, best practices and lessons learned from the realization of farmers’ rights and when finalizing the options;
(b) Encouraged to ensure that the secretariat meets its duties to mobilize resources and provide technical assistance to contracting parties and relevant stakeholders for capacity-building to enhance the realization of farmers’ rights.
103. The Council of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants is invited to develop mechanisms to ensure that national implementation of the Convention does not restrict or violate human rights.