Inquirer.net | 20 May 2026
NGO urges DTI to omit plant protection item in trade talks with EU
By Jordeene B. Lagare
A nongovernmental organization is urging the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to exclude a provision on protecting new plant varieties in the ongoing trade negotiations between the European Union and the Philippines.
The Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (Searice) is pushing for the exclusion of the plant variety protection (PVP) provision in the free trade agreement (FTA) between both parties, as this will significantly impact the livelihood of smallholder farmers.
Searice said the government should reject attempts to introduce the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) in the EU-PH trade accord and future trade deals.
The 1991 version of the UPOV Convention provides an effective system of plant variety protection to encourage the development of new plant varieties.
The group said the inclusion of the UPOV in the EU-PH free trade pact “would expand corporate control over seeds and restrict smallholder farmers’ rights to save, use, exchange, and sell seeds.”
According to Searice, such practices are crucial to farmers’ livelihoods, food sovereignty, and the conservation of agrobiodiversity.
“Even saving seeds and replanting on their own fields is prohibited and thus criminalized for most plant species, and restricted for others,” Ignacio said.
Ignacio said the Philippine government should retain full flexibility in developing seed laws in accordance with farmers’ rights, national circumstances, and needs.
Furthermore, the group said the Philippines has an existing framework on plant variety protection, known as the Plant Variety Protection Act of 2002, and that adopting UPOV 1991 is “unnecessary and harmful.”
“As of this writing, the Department of Trade and Industry has expressed its willingness to engage in discussions with civil society organizations to address these concerns,” it added.
