JS -02 Plant Variety Protection Bill, 2019 placed in JS

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ZCZC

JS -02

PLANT-PROTECTION-BILL

Plant Variety Protection Bill, 2019 placed in JS

SANGSAD BHABAN, March 10, 2019 (BSS) – Plant variety protection Bill, 2019
today was placed in the Jatiya Sangsad with a view to protecting the right of
breeders as well as

farmers to the indigenous and newly invented crops under the changing
phenomenon across the world.

Agriculture Minister Mohammad Abdur Razzak placed the bill in the House
which was unanimously approved in voice votes for moving it to the
parliamentary standing committee, with Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in
the chair.

Piloting the bill, the minister said the enactment of the law will
encourage the breeders and researchers to innovate new varieties, adding that
even the proposed law will establish the rights of the farmers to protecting,
use, re-production and exchange of their seeds produced on their own lands.

“It is necessary to enact a law relating to the justified rules, rules and
regulations for protecting local popular crop varieties and innovation the
new varieties,” he said.

To this end, the proposed law also has provisions of foundation of an
authority, board of directors, registration of the protected crop varieties,
qualification of the applicants, conditions of the plant protection, rights
of breeders and farmers, recognition certificate and award, crime, penalty,
compensation, authority’s fund, accounts, audit and enactment of rules and
regulations.

Such law is effective in developed and the developing countries, including
India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, China and Korea, to protect
the right of the newly invented varieties.

The agriculture ministry prepared the bill in line with Bangladesh’s
obligation to protect intellectual property rights under the World Trade
Organisation’s Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement
and the International Convention on Biological Diversity, according to the
proposed law.

Earlier, the agriculture minister urged the House to send the bill to the
parliamentary standing committee on the Agriculture Ministry for further
scrutiny.

BSS/OG/QC/1614 hrs