Thai farmers and civil society organisations expressed concern about the impact of the new pact's intellectual property provisions, which prevent them from saving and reusing seeds that contain patented plant materials. But officials insist that farmers would still have the right to collect and reuse seeds, but only for non-commercial purposes. Accordingly, Thailand would have to amend its Plant Varieties Protection Act (1999), a move that would affect profit-sharing mechanisms related to bio resources and protection of local plant varieties in Thailand. The country has the Plant Varieties Protection Act, supervised by the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry. Farmers are not allowed to collect the plant seeds to reproduce them in the next planting season, except for small cereals grown on the farmers' land just for subsistence.

Source: Bangkok Post June 21, 2020 23:15 UTC