Assembly of the Poor protests UPOV 1991 in Phuket trade talks

The Assembly of the Poor protested at the Heroines Monument in Thalang on 29 September as the 10th round of Thai-EU free-trade agreement negotiations continued in Phuket.

The group called on Thailand to remove UPOV 1991, linked to the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, from the negotiations. It argued that the proposed rules could weaken small-scale farmers’ rights to save, exchange and propagate seeds.

The Assembly of the Poor said the issue involved proposed changes to Thailand’s Plant Varieties Protection Act (1999), under which small-scale farmers have certain rights to save seeds or plant-propagating material for cultivation in later seasons according to traditional practices.

The group argued that stronger intellectual-property protections for plant breeders could force farmers to buy seeds or pay fees to use protected varieties. It also warned that greater control by multinational seed and biotechnology companies could increase the risk of market monopolisation and that farmers could face legal action involving harvested crops and products derived from protected plant varieties.

“Seeds belong to everyone; no one should hold a monopoly over them,” the group said in its protest statement. It urged the government and its negotiating team to permanently withdraw UPOV 1991 from the Thai-EU talks.

The negotiations are being held in Phuket from 28 September to 6 October. The government has said the round is intended to accelerate progress on the remaining chapters and complete the agreement within 2026. According to the Assembly of the Poor, 15 of the agreement’s 24 chapters have been concluded, leaving about one-third outstanding.

Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Supajee Suthumpun said the talks were aimed at expediting the remaining provisions and that the government remained focused on reaching an agreement within 2026.