Point of Privilege Resolution No. 4-05M

WHEREAS, The Report of the Seed Sector Advisory Committee, prepared for the Seed Sector Review, made recommendations to change Canada’s plant breeders’ rights legislation so as to conform to the Convention of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV ’91); and

WHEREAS, the Seed Sector Review is a private industry-led initiative that seeks to restructure Canada’s plant breeders’ rights legislation toward industry control; and WHEREAS, private companies will be able to obtain rights to common seeds under UPOV ’91; and

WHEREAS, changing Canada’s legislation to conform to UPOV ’91 will restrict or deny farmers’ rights to save, select, reuse, exchange and sell seeds;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that SARM urge the federal government to protect farmers rights to save, select, reuse, exchange and sell seeds by rejecting the recommendations in the Report of the Seed Sector Advisory Committee.