Crop breeding and intellectual property in the global village

The number of countries that grant intellectual property rights (IPRs) to agricultural products and processes is growing. Such a move has been prompted by the adoption of two major international treaties, i.e. the UPOV Convention and the TRIPs Agreement. However, the use of IPRs in crop breeding raises important issues, such as food security and biodiversity conservation, smallholders’ access to technology, the possible monopolization of genetic resources, the relevance and admissibility of follow-on research and the growth of the domestic private seed sector.