[ENGLISH VERSION BELOW] Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) bersama Forum Kedaulatan Makanan Malaysia (FKMM) telah mengemukakan sebuah petisyen antarabangsa kepada Perdana Menteri Anwar Ibrahim.
Petisyen ini telah ditandatangani oleh 97 organisasi antarabangsa, serantau, dan kebangsaan dari seluruh dunia bagi mendesak kerajaan Malaysia agar mempertimbangkan semula secara teliti hasrat untuk menyertai Konvensyen Kesatuan Antarabangsa bagi Perlindungan Varieti Tumbuhan Baru 1991 (UPOV 1991).
Menerusi petisyen tersebut, gabungan organisasi-organisasi ini menggesa agar perlindungan penting yang sedia ada di dalam Akta Perlindungan Varieti Baru Tumbuhan 2004 (Akta PNPV) tidak dihapuskan semata-mata untuk mematuhi ketetapan Upov.
Antara sebab utama bantahan ini disuarakan adalah kerana undang-undang sedia ada, iaitu Akta PNPV, telah terbukti berkesan dalam menawarkan rangka kerja perundangan yang seimbang.
Akta ini berjaya melindungi hak pembiak baka komersial, di samping mengekalkan hak para petani untuk menyimpan, menggunakan, menukar dan menjual benih dari ladang mereka sendiri.
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Selain itu, akta sedia ada turut menyediakan langkah-langkah perlindungan yang penting untuk mencegah biopirasi terhadap sumber genetik tumbuhan Malaysia serta memberi ruang dasar kepada kerajaan untuk melindungi kepentingan awam dan nasional, yang mana perlindungan seumpama ini tidak wujud di dalam Akta UPOV 1991.
Penyertaan ke dalam UPOV 1991 dibimbangi akan merosakkan sistem sedia ada yang direka dengan baik serta berfungsi secara berkesan.
Tambahan pula, cadangan pindaan Akta PNPV untuk mematuhi UPOV 1991 dikhuatiri akan membuka laluan kepada kenaikan harga benih yang mendadak, menyokong penguasaan asing terhadap sektor benih Malaysia, dan seterusnya melunturkan kedaulatan benih serta makanan negara.
Perkara ini diburukkan lagi apabila Kementerian Pertanian baru-baru ini didapati telah menyerahkan draf penuh pindaan yang mematuhi UPOV 1991 ini kepada Majlis UPOV dengan membelakangkan proses demokrasi yang telus, tanpa sebarang perundingan bermakna bersama pihak berkepentingan yang terjejas, khususnya para petani kecil dan komuniti orang asal.
Di peringkat global, Konvensyen UPOV 1991 kekal sebagai salah satu instrumen antarabangsa yang paling kontroversi, di mana ia telah mencetuskan pelbagai siri bantahan dan cabaran perlembagaan.
Sebagai contoh, Mahkamah Agung Honduras dan Mahkamah Tinggi Kenya telah mengisytiharkan undang-undang berkaitan UPOV 1991 sebagai tidak berperlembagaan.
Malah, pakar-pakar antarabangsa, termasuk pelapor khas PBB mengenai hak terhadap makanan, secara konsisten menasihati negara-negara membangun agar mengelak daripada menyertai UPOV 1991.
Sebaliknya, instrumen ini dilihat hanya dikonseptualisasikan bagi memajukan kepentingan komersial industri benih Eropah , dengan negara-negara maju seperti Belanda, Jerman, Perancis, Switzerland, Amerika Syarikat dan Jepun muncul sebagai penerima manfaat utamanya.
SAM dan FKMM amat berharap agar perdana menteri mempertimbangkan petisyen dan keluhan ini demi melindungi hak petani kecil tempatan dan kedaulatan makanan negara.
Kami menyeru kerajaan agar menunjukkan kepimpinan dengan memberhentikan cadangan pindaan UPOV tersebut dan terus mempertahankan Akta PNPV yang sedia ada yang telah terbukti keberkesanannya. – SAM/FKMM
English version
Global outcry: Do not join UPOV 1991 Convention
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) and the Malaysian Food Sovereignty Forum (FKMM) have submitted an international petition to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
This petition, signed by 97 international, regional, and national-based organisations from across the globe, urges the Malaysian government to carefully reconsider the intention to join the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) 1991 Convention.
Through the petition, this coalition of organisations urges for the essential protections already existing within our own Protection of New Plant Varieties Act 2004 (PNPV Act) to not be abolished solely to comply with the stipulations of the 1991 UPOV Convention.
One of the main reasons for this objection is that the existing law, namely the PNPV Act, has proven effective in offering a balanced legal framework. This act successfully protects the rights of commercial plant breeders, while simultaneously maintaining the rights of farmers to save, use, exchange and sell seeds from their own farms.
Additionally, the existing act also provides essential protective measures to prevent biopiracy against Malaysia’s plant genetic resources, as well as providing policy space for the government to protect public and national interests. Such protections do not exist within the UPOV Convention. Accession to the convention is feared to undermine this existing system, which is currently regarded as well-structured and effective.
Furthermore, there are concerns that the proposed amendments to the PNPV Act to comply with the convention would open the path to a sharp increase in seed prices, support foreign dominance over Malaysia’s seed sector, and subsequently erode the nation’s seed and food sovereignty.
The situation has been further exacerbated by the recent actions of the Ministry of Agriculture. It submitted a full set of amendments to the PNPV Act in accordance with the UPOV Convention to the UPOV Council. This was done by circumventing a transparent and democratic process, without any meaningful consultation with those most affected, particularly small-scale farmers and indigenous communities.
At the global level, the UPOV Convention remains one of the most controversial international instruments. It has sparked a series of protests and constitutional challenges.
For example, the Supreme Court of Honduras and the High Court of Kenya have both declared laws related to the convention as unconstitutional.
Moreover, international experts, including the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, have consistently advised developing countries to avoid joining the convention.
Conversely, this instrument is seen as being conceptualised only to advance the commercial interests of the European seed industry, with developed countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland, the United States and Japan emerging as its primary beneficiaries.
SAM and FKMM very much hope that the prime minister will consider this petition and grievance for the sake of protecting the rights of local small-scale farmers and the nation’s food sovereignty.
We urge the government to demonstrate leadership by halting the proposed UPOV amendments and to continue defending our existing PNPV Act that has proven its effectiveness. – SAM/FKMM
Meenakshi Raman is the president of Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM).
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
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