ISHS Acta Horticulturae 662: VII International Symposium on Temperate Zone Fruits in the Tropics and Subtropics
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (IPR) ISSUES IN HORTICULTURE: AN INDIAN SCENARIO WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO MEDICINAL PLANTS |
| Author: | H. Singh |
| Keywords: | biological diversity, medicinal plants, IPR, plant genetic resources |
| Abstract:
The coverage of intellectual property rights (IPR) has expanded to cover even resources that were previously deemed to be part of the public domain. A major concern particularly for developing countries is the TRIPs Agreement which obliges all members to provide patents in all fields of technology and also to provide IPRs (either patents or a sui generis system) for plant varieties. Several declarations, at national and international level, emphasize the need for identification, evaluation, conservation, and sustainable utilization of plant genetic resources (PGR) particularly, medicinal plants. These declarations have assumed greater significance under post-WTO era where the TRIPS Agreement requires patent protection for at least 20 years for any invention of pharmaceutical product or process. The present paper highlights salient features of recent national and international efforts concerning the utilization of plant genetic resources and assesses the implications of these developments with particular reference to medicinal plants in India. Medicinal plants sector in India is considered as a forestry sub-sector (non-timber forest products). Till Medicinal Plants Board was constituted in the year 2000, no nodal agency was there to look into medicinal plants as an economic “sector” and different organizations were dabbling with different aspects of medicinal plants without any focus and co-ordination leading to a paradox of simultaneous existence of under-utilization and over-exploitation. This lack of co-ordination led to critical research gap relating to socio-economic and policy aspects of medicinal plants. For exploiting the opportunities in the world market - which is growing at the rate of 10-15 per cent per annum – the country need strive towards utilizing the flexibility available under the CBD and the Doha Declaration. In the absence of such policy framework, the illegal intellectual property protection and misuse of plant genetic resources would continue and our share in the global market would remain meager. Optimal institutional framework is necessary for carrying out species-specific and socio-economic environment specific research in medicinal plants. Such framework should take care of needs of various stakeholders and also cater to social needs without adverse implications on equity and environment. This would help in harnessing the potential of medicinal plants by facilitating bio-prospecting and equitable sharing of benefits in the post-WTO era. | |
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