NGO says farmers and indigenous communities may lose long-standing protections to save and share resources
PETALING JAYA: Proposed amendments to the Protection of New Plant Varieties (PNPV) Act 2004 could strip farmers and indigenous communities of their rights to save, exchange and sell seeds, while opening the door to biopiracy and unchecked monopoly power by commercial breeders, said Sahabat Alam Malaysia.
Its president Meena Raman said the current Act protects the rights of farmers to use and share seeds, recognises them as innovators and requires breeders to obtain consent from local communities to prevent biopiracy.
“The existing PNPV Act 2004 recognises the importance of traditional farmer seed systems alongside commercial seed systems.
“However, the proposed amendments remove these safeguards, effectively denying farmers and indigenous communities their rights over genetic resources and traditional practices that are crucial to their livelihoods, while opening the door to widespread biopiracy of Malaysia’s resources.”
The proposed amendments would restrict the right of farmers to save seeds from protected varieties to use only on their own farms for personal consumption and within strict limits that prioritise the interests of breeders.
She said the changes would also ban farmers from exchanging or selling saved seeds in all situations, even during emergencies, potentially criminalising the sharing of seeds as part of traditional farming practices.
“Over time, farmers could lose income from seed sales and face higher costs and reduced access to seeds, which in turn threatens food security and the right to food, while also squeezing already-limited household budgets for essentials such as healthcare and education.”
Meena also pointed out that under Section 15 of the current PNPV Act, the government can refuse to grant plant breeder rights if a new variety threatens public order, morality or the environment, providing safeguards that protect the public interest and align with other national laws.
“The proposed amendments would remove these protections, creating legal gaps that could allow commercial breeders to gain near-unlimited rights over plant varieties, even those that might be illegal under existing laws, and raising the risk of biopiracy while reducing farmers to mere consumers of technology.”
Meena said the preservation of agrobiodiversity in Malaysia faces serious risks as indigenous knowledge tied to heirloom crop varieties is threatened by the spread of uniform, corporate-controlled seeds.
“When farmers’ rights to save, exchange and sell seeds from protected varieties are restricted, it not only limits their autonomy but also reduces crop diversity.
“As smallholder farmers shift to uniform commercial seeds, unique heirloom varieties and the traditional farming knowledge embedded in them could be lost over time. This jeopardises both our agricultural heritage and the resilience of our food systems,” she said.
She added that reliance on imported seeds and pesticide-linked commodity systems not only threatens the resilience of food systems but also increases exposure to hazardous chemicals, endangering both farmers and consumers.
“In fact, Malaysia’s Agriculture Department acknowledged in 2018 that joining the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants would bring no clear benefit, while raising seed costs and giving multinationals monopolistic control over seeds.”
Meena said there was little meaningful consultation with stakeholders most affected by the proposed amendments to the PNPV Act 2004, including smallholder farmers, indigenous peoples and local communities.
She called for diversified farming, prevention of monopolies, support for local seed systems and cooperatives, and fair market access and pricing for producers, with state governments upholding land and tenure rights for small farmers and indigenous communities.
