Do Agricultural Companies that Own Intellectual Property Rights on Seeds and Plant Varieties have a Right-to-Food Responsibility?

Abstract

Building on both the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the relevant portions of the advisory opinion of the International Monsanto Tribunal, this article presents a normative argument on the right-to-food responsibility of corporate actors that own and exercise intellectual property rights on seeds and plant varieties. This article contends that while states bear the primary responsibility for the right to food, corporate actors that own intellectual property rights on seeds and plant varieties equally have a responsibility to respect the right to food and to ensure that the exercise and enforcement of their intellectual property rights does not negatively affect the ability of small scale farmers to gain access to the means of food production nor threaten agricultural biodiversity, as both of these factors are crucial for ensuring food security. In this regard, agricultural companies that own intellectual property rights on seeds and plant varieties should not engage in activities that negatively impact the non-commercial farmers’ seed system nor should they prevent farmers from saving and exchanging seeds.