The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources and International Essay

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources and International Trade Law - Essay Example The main objective of the treaty is to conserve and sustainably use plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. In addition, there must be fair and equitable sharing of the benefits that arise in the use of plant genetic resources (Curci 3). Achieving the main objectives of the treaty has several implications on the intellectual property rights. In addition, the treaty has several implications on the conservation of genetic resources. The general regime on access to genetic resources and benefits sharing are some of the provisions in the treaty that are relevant to the intellectual property rights. In the treaty, bilateral negotiations were made between genetic provider countries and other user countries. According to Biber-Klemn and Cottier (217), the main elements of the treaty include: the affirmation of the sovereign rights of the provider states over their genetic resources; the creation of environmentally friendly genetic resources that can bring benefits to user countries; and the access to a country’s genetic resources by other nations being subject to Prior Informed Consent (PIC). The access to and the transfer of genetic resources technology in the treaty states that countries engaging in the contract must cooperate subject to national legislation and international law (Lewinski 69). This is to ensure that such intellectual property rights are supportive and do not go against the established objectives of the treaty, according to Lewinski. The rights of farmers are also included in the treaty, particularly Article 9 of the treaty. Article 9 recognizes the contribution of local traditional communities and farmers to the conservation and development of plant genetic resources for the purpose of food and agriculture production. In addition, the article places the responsibility for the realization of the rights of farmers by the national governments. The contracting parties should ensure that there is protection and promotion of