1. Online conference on Options for Farmers’ Rights
Initiated by CGN and CTDT
Funded by DGIS and OxfamNovib

2. Basic data Number of participants: 55 Number of contributions: 138
Geographical span: worldwide
Participation: on invitation
Output
6 Newsletters
GB-3 Information document
Farmer support document

3. Three discussion rounds
Objectives to be reached by creating legal space
Current experiences with legal space
Future options for legal space

4. General observations (1)
Categories of farmers
Motives for FR
Recognition and compensation
Seed management an open system
e.g. as open software
Relation to PBR
Agreement on farmers as breeders
Wide recognition of PPB

5. General observations (2)
Farmers’ Rights as communal rights
No individualisation
Impact of seed acts
Major impacts on marketing
Effects of Free Trade Agreements
Bilateral trade-offs
Early experiences at the national level

6. Specific discussion on Article 9.3
Relation with national seed acts
Marketing requirements
Relation with UPOV, farm saved seed and ‘private use’
Exchange and sales at the community level

7. Specific discussion on Article 9.2
Protection of traditional knowledge and registration
Indian type; farmers’ registries; geographic origin protection
Farmers’ contributions and benefit-sharing
(non)-monetary; PIC?
Participation in decision-making
Awareness raising; farmers’ organisations

8. Some major questions
which laws need revision to realize farmers’ rights?
how to protect traditional knowledge?
Which type of benefit-sharing is best?
How to involve farmers and their organizations?

9. Four proposals
A request to the Secretary and FAO to study the options for provisions in national seed legislation of Contracting Parties,
with a view to provide recommendations and/or guidelines for the introduction of legislation that would allow for the unrestricted or less restricted sales of farmer varieties.
A request to the Secretary of the Treaty and UPOV to study, the possible means and mechanisms to streamline Article 9.3 into UPOV 78/91 regarding protected varieties
in particular regarding the options for provisions in national legislation based on UPOV 78 or 91 that would allow small-scale farmers in developing countries to save, use, sell and exchange protected varieties within their communities .

10. Four proposals
An encouragement to donors to continue with the online conference group as a forum for further discussion and exchange on the implementation of Farmers’ Rights, and to continue helping discussions on the implementation of Farmers’ Rights through any other means and approaches.
An encouragement to donors to provide financial assistance to help developing countries to organize farmers´ workshops to gather inputs for policy decisions on the implementation of Farmers’ Rights, seed legislation, and intellectual property rights legislation.

11. Report by Robin Pistorius, Eng Siang Lim, Huib Ghijsen en Bert Visser
Thank you