Farm product rights to be duscussed

JAKARTA (JP): Asian and Pacific seed producers plan to meet to seek ways of gaining access to genetically-engineered products, which are protected by intellectual property rights despite their germ plasma originating in Asia, an official says.

Minister of Agriculture Sjarifudin Baharsjah said yesterday that the issue will be among the topics discussed in the three- day "Asia Seed '96" conference scheduled from Sept. 25 to Sept. 27 at the Sahid Jaya Hotel.

The conference will be held by the Asia and Pacific Seed Association, with support from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, in collaboration with the Seed Association of Indonesia and the Ministry of Agriculture.

Sjarifudin said that during the conference, seed producers, breeders, researchers and related private and government enterprises will discuss the problems faced when seeking access to "trans-genic" plants and animals produced by the genetic engineering of germ plasma originating from Asia.

"Since the trans-genic products are protected by intellectual property rights, it is difficult for us to use them," Sjarifudin said.

"We have to be careful in dealing with the issue of trans- genic entities because what we are faced with are plants, animals and even fertilizers that have never existed before," he added.

Sjarifudin said the conference may come up with a protocol on the importation of trans-genetic entities and the safety and ethical aspects of genetic engineering.

Indonesia, he said, has so far issued its own governmental decree overseeing the development of biotechnology in the country.

Apart from the issue of intellectual property rights, the conference will also discuss the transfer of technology, possibilities of cooperating with other members of the Asia- Pacific Seed Association and access to various international seed-research centers.

Sjarifudin said that it will be difficult for Indonesia to develop its seed industry because the country lacks a sound seed market.

Investors, he said, are also reluctant to enter the industry because of the high interest rates imposed by the banking sector.

But problems also occur at the downstream level, he said, as farmers are reluctant to use the seeds if they don't have a market for their products.

"The only way out is to create a market," Sjarifudin said.

Citing the hybrid-corn industry as an example, he said partnerships between seed producers, farmers and poultry feed- producers provide a sound market for all.

Farmers who are guaranteed a sound market by feed- manufacturing factories will in turn create a market for producers of hybrid-corn seeds, he said.

"Such partnership programs need to be implemented to develop other commodities such as horticulture... So it's not always a problem of poor technology, it can also be caused by the unavailability of a market," he said.

Sjarifudin said that problems in the seed industry have adversely affected the efficiency and productivity of the country's agricultural sector.

The seed industry, he added, has a crucial role to determine if Indonesia is capable of entering the highly competitive global market, which demands not only high production efficiency but also high-quality, uniform products. (pwn)