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General Information
This Act classifies plant varieties into four types: wild plant variety, general domestic plant variety, local domestic plant variety, and new plant variety. The access to and use of each type of plant variety have to be carried out in accordance with the criteria, procedures and conditions prescribed by law.
Regarding the conditions for accessing and using general domestic and wild plant varieties, the law provides that the collection, procurement, or gathering of a plant variety or any part of plant for the purposes of breeding, experimental research or commercial research have to seek permission from the competent official; and an agreement has to be made on benefit sharing, from which the proceeds will be remitted to the Plant Varieties Protection Fund (Section 52). In the case of non-commercial undertakings, the procedures will have to be as per the regulations prescribed by the Plant Variety Protection Commission (Section 53).
In this connection, the plant variety protection law has provisions for the protection of community’s agricultural local wisdom, especially “local domestic plant varieties”, 7 farmers’ rights protection, traditional practices [such as the exchange of seeds among farmers/communities, storing of seeds for the next crop season (Section 33)] , and local wisdom development/promotion by establishing a plant variety protection fund to finance or subsidize community’s activities related to plant variety conservation, research, and development (Section 55).[1,2]
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Contact Details
Department of Agriculture
Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
50 Phaholyothin Rd., Ladyao, Chatuchack
Bangkok Thailand 10900
Tel. +662 2579 0151-8
Website: http://www.doa.go.th/th/index.php
Reference:
- Petrakard P, Chankittiwat V. Protection of Wisdom of Thai Traditional Medicine. In: Chokevivat V, Wibulpolprasert S, Petrakard P. eds. Thai Traditional and Alternative Health Profile: Thai Traditional Medicine, Indigenous Medicine and Alternative Medicine 2009-2010. Bangkok: War Veterans Organization Office of Printing Mill. 2012. p. 313-14.
- Plant Varieties Protection Act, B.E. 2542 (1999). [cited 2012 Oct 20]. Available from: http://www.doa.go.th/pvp/index/pvp2542%20eng.pdf
