CPTPP: Would Thai farmers really be disadvantaged? (Gallery)

BANGKOK: On Friday (June 19), more than 80 agriculture and seed industry stakeholders, academicians, government officers and journalists  joined a seminar to exchange information and discuss the benefits and challenges for Thai farmers and breeders should Thailand decide to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). 

Panelists, from left: Dr. Kanokwan Chodchoey (APSA Executive Director); Dr. Winthai Kamolsukyeunyong (BIOTEC and Kasetsart University Kamphaeng Saen ); Mr. Nipon Chiawongrungrueng (Orchid breeder); Dr. Chairerg Sagwansupyakorn (THASTA President); Ms. Thidakoon Saenudom (Chief of Thailand PVP Office, Thailand Dept of Agriculture) and the seminar’s emcee, Narakorn Tiyayon. Scroll down for full photo gallery.

Co-organized by the Thai Seed Trade Association (THASTA) and APSA, the Thai-language seminar and panel discussion was titled: “CPTPP: Kaset Thai Sia Priab Jing Reu?” เกษตรไทยเสียเปรียบจริงหรือ? which translates to “CPTPP: Would Thai farmers really be disadvantaged?”.

Core to panel-led discussions was stipulations of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, or UPOV 1991, which Thailand would be obliged to become a member as one of the conditions for joining the CPTPP trade bloc.

UPOV has 76 members across the globe, while CPTPP currently has 11 members: Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brunei, Australia and New Zealand.

The trade bloc represents a market of about 500 million people, or 6.7% of the global population and 13.3% of global GDP.

One of the key objectives of the seminar was to address misunderstandings, misinformation and disinformation, and thus provide accurate information about CPTPP, specifically regarding the rights of farmers and breeders, as stipulated by UPOV 1991 as well as Thailand’s current PVP law.

The full seminar can be viewed in Thai here. Moreover, a summary in English will be published in the upcoming edition of Asian Seed Magazine.