88.12PU Update of Policy of: Plant Breeder’s Rights (Bill C-107)
Whereas:
- The Government of Canada is not a signatory to the Resolution adopted at the November 1983 Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations for an undertaking on the free exchange of plant genetic resources;
- The National Council of Women of Canada established policy in 1983 urging the Government of Canada to continue its present policy regulating plant breeding under the mechanism of Seed Canada rather than through the enactment of Plant Breeders’ Rights legislation;
- Under Plant Breeders’ Rights legislation, the selective distribution of protected plant varieties would likely suppress the use of primitive unregistered varieties;
- The depletion of primitive unprotected plant varieties would result in a loss of genetic diversity and the possible extinction of natural immunities and regional ecological adaptabilities;
- The preservation of genetic diversity is a crucial objective of the World Conservation Strategy;
- The ethical and socio-economic implications of life patenting should be thoroughly examined before introducing restrictive legislation.
RESOLVED:
That The National Council of Women of Canada urge the Government of Canada to:
- Become a signatory of the FAO Convention on the Universality of Plant Genetic Resources;
- Prepare a White Paper on Plant Breeder’s Rights and initiate a full national debate on the subject;
- Reject any change in the present patent laws that would lead to the ownership of living organisms.