NOTES AGRICULTURAL & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Intellectual property rights (IPRs) have become a topic on the international trade agenda since the negotia-tion and adoption of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) as part of the overall package of agreements leading to the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO). TRIPS places obligations on all WTO members to offer specified minimum standards of intellectual property (IP) protection in a wide range of sectors. But the agreement also leaves developing countries a certain amount of flexibility in how they fulfill their obliga-tions. This flexibility allows countries to tailor their IPR regimes to their own specific circumstances. The agricultural sector, and in particular plant breed-ing, is one area where this flexibility is quite broad. However, in the case of plant breeding, there are pres-sures for developing countries to go farther than required by TRIPS, notably in bilateral trade negotia-tions and discussions in the framework of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Such strengthened IPRs need to be justified on the basis of careful assessment of the national breeding and farm-ing sectors and a process of consultation among the main stakeholders. This note argues that policymakers need to pay close attention to the role that IPRs can play in agricultural development by providing incentives for both domestic and foreign investments. The note explains the special nature of plant breeding that has given rise to unique forms of IPRs and reviews how this special nature is reflected in article 27(3)b of the TRIPS Agreement. The note also reviews how developing countries are choos-ing to meet their obligations. It highlights the concern that both bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations may exert pressure on countries to adopt IPR regimes that are more rigid than those required to support national agricultural development. This brief is based on a study on the impact of IPRs in the breeding industry in developing countries undertaken i