Official Newsletter of the WANA Seed Network
No. 37,
June 2009
PDF File (1.4
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This section presents information on the WANA Seed Network, including network activities and reports of the meetings of the Steering Committee and the WANA Seed Council.
ECOSA Approves Bylaws and Plans Seed Conference
In the last two issues of Seed Info, we reported on the activities of a new regional seed association representing 10 member countries of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) region comprising of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
ECOSA bylaw approved
ECO, FAO and ICARDA organized the First Preparatory Committee meeting of ECOSA from 14-16 March 2009, in Antalya, Turkey, which was hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) of Turkey. Public and private seed sector representatives from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan attended the meeting,
During the meeting, the draft bylaw for the establishment of the ECO Seed Association was finalized and approved as mandated by the 4th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture (Baku 2008) and 18th ECO Council of Ministers Meeting (Tehran 2009). Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan signed the bylaw of ECOSA. Members of the Board of ECOSA were appointed from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, and Turkey. At the outset, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and Turkey applied for ordinary membership of ECOSA and Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan committed themselves to applying upon establishment of their respective national seed associations. Several private companies have already shown an interest and applied as associate members from ECO member countries. The first general assembly of ECOSA will convene on 1 December 2009, before the First ECOSA International Seed Conference from 2-4 December 2009 in Antalya, Turkey.
The temporary address of ECOSA is located at Turkish Seed Union, Adakale Sokak No 22/12 Kizilay, Ankara, Turkey; Tel: +90-312-433 30 65; +90-312-433 30 66; Fax: +90-312-433 30 06; Contact person: Dr. Vehbi Eser; E-mail: veser@bisab.org.tr
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Participants
of ECOSA Preparatory Committee Meeting, 14-16 March 2009, Antalya,
Turkey
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First ECOSA International Seed Trade Conference
The First ECOSA International Seed Trade Conference (ECOSA2009) will be held from 2-4 December 2009 at the Fame Residence Lara & SPA Hotel in Antalya, Turkey. The conference will be organized by the Turkish Seed Union (Turk-TOB) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) and their partners the Turkish International Development Agency (TIKA), the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).
ECOSA2009 will cover a broad range of issues of interest in the seed trade and the global seed industry. It will provide an opportunity to promote seed business at global level in general and ECO region in particular and keep abreast with the current developments in the industry. The focus of the conference will be seed trade including exploring the status and prospects of seed industry; opportunities in the seed market; and international seed regulations and conventions of relevance to the ECO region. The ECO encompasses an area of 800 million ha and population of 350 million people with a rich variety of agro-climatic conditions suitable for crop and livestock production and huge potential and opportunities for seed market. For more details contact: Turkish Seed Union, Adakale Sokak, No 22/12, Kizilay, Ankara, Turkey; Tel: +90 312 433 30 65; +90 312 433 30 66; Fax: +90 312 433 30 06; E-mail: ecosasecr@gmail.com.
Regional Plant Variety Protection Workshop
ICARDA, through its Third Country Training Program Project supported by Japan Interntional Cooperation Agency organized a Regional Workshop on 'Plant Variety Protection and Implications for Seed Industry Development' from 2-5 March 2009, in Aleppo Syria. The workshop created an opprtunity for dialogue among stakeholders in the seed industry, to rationalize the introduction and implementation of plant variety protection (PVP) at national or regional levels. The specific objectives of the workshop were to:
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Create awareness among senior researchers, managers and policy makers on international treaties such as Conventions on Biological Diversity and International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. |
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Create awareness among senior researchers, managers and policy makers about intellectual property rights in general and plant variety protection in particular within the agricultural sector. |
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Review the status of plant variety protection in the region and assess the existing technical, institutional and regulatory constraints. |
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Develop recommendations and action plans to be undertaken regarding PVP in participating countries. |
The workshop was attended by 23 senior agricultural research and seed program managers from CWANA countries; Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, the UAE and Yemen. The workshop program included key introductions on: (i) Current trends in seed industry development; (ii) Importance of seed policy for seed industry development; (iii) Overview of seed regulatory frameworks and opportunities for regional harmonization; and (iv) Status of PVP in participating countries. Implications of international conventions (CBD, ITPGRFA) on seed sector development were extensively discussed; and more time devoted to Plant Breeders' Rights with introductions on PVP under the UPOV Convention, and its impacts on the seed industry. Another important issue discussed was the difference between Farmers' Rights and Farmers' Privilege.
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Participants
of regional workshop on PVP, 2-5 March 2009 in Aleppo, Syria
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All countries recognized the importance of the PVP system and becoming members of UPOV (Azerbaijan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan). Egypt and Iran are in the process of becoming members of UPOV, and Algeria and Oman have variety protection laws but are not members of UPOV. Ethiopia and Pakistan have PVP laws, but they are not compliant with the UPOV Convention.
Working groups discussed topics on national seed policy framework, variety and seed regulatory frameworks and PVP and made valuable recommendations.