The
SANSOR International Standing Committee had one official meeting
during the period under review. Owing to the fact that most
matters arising were being dealt with or delegated to other,
appropriate standing committees, the Committee decided to only
meet as the need arose.
Phytosanitary and import permit delays were once again a
major point of contention. In general there were signs of
improvement but lack of consistency in the issuing of documents
and lack of internal communication, especially with respect to
new appointments in government, which added to continued
problems and frustration for the seed industry. These matters
were referred to the Phytosanitary Standing Committee.
The African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA) Congress was held
in Dakar, Senegal, West Africa and attended by a good
representation of SANSOR members. The output of this regional
initiative improved significantly during the period under review
due to better trading options provided and increased support
received from seed companies and other bodies like the African
Union (AU), Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United
States Agency for International Development (USAID).
A workshop on intellectual property rights was proposed for
the SADC region. In the Africa Model Law on Intellectual
Property Rights the Plant Breeders’ Rights chapter was not in
accordance with requirements of the Union for the Protection of
New Plant Varieties (UPOV) Convention. It was reiterated that
each country should select elements that were applicable subject
to the UPOV Convention and that the Plant Breeders’ Rights
system in Africa should be harmonized.
Some 35 representatives, including the SANSOR General and
Project managers, attended a FAO Workshop in Dakar during March
2002. The main objective of this workshop was to facilitate the
process of harmonization of seed legislation so as to increase
food security, seed movement and development of seed trade
enterprises.
The FAO workshop agreed that lack of harmonized regulations
was a major constraint and that adequate seed supplies were
critical to achieve food security. These constraints were more
severe at the technical government level than at the legal
level. From this certain initiatives were introduced and three
Western African countries were selected to participate in a
harmonization/ standardization initiative.
