Webinar on Undrop, the Right to Seeds, and the EU Seed/PRM Marketing Reform: Perspectives from Hungary

Event

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A recording of this past event is now available on our YouTube channel.

This workshop, organized jointly by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Agroecology Europe and Hungary Agroecology Network, aims to raise awareness on the ongoing reform of the European Union (EU) seed and plant reproductive material (PRM) marketing legislation with the proposal of the European Commission and the European Parliament’s position on the file. The event will explore pathways to align the reform with the right to food and the right to seeds recognized by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), especially in its article 19.

UNDROP’s holistic approach to the right to seeds entails legislative changes at the EU and national levels in various policy fields. This webinar will focus on the impacts of rules that govern the marketing of seeds in the EU. The workshop will look into what UNDROP and the EU reform mean in the Hungarian context, and how positive aspects of the national legislation could input the reform or, alternatively, suffer from new and more restrictive rules at the EU level. You can register for the event HERE.

For more information on the relevant UNDROP provisions and their implementation in Europe, see the Practical Manual on the Right to Seeds in Europe and the shorter Research Brief published by the Geneva Academy. See also Geneva Academy’s commentary on the European Commission’s proposal and the European Parliament's position. And a PPT prepared by Fulya Batur, Associate Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy. 

PROGRAMME

15:30 – 15:40

Welcome by Lili BALOGH, President, Agroecology Europe and Hungarian Agroecology Network

15:40 – 15:55

UNDROP, right to food and right to seeds: what obligations for the EU & its Member States?
Christophe GOLAY & Karine PESCHARD, Geneva Academy

15:55 – 16:15

UNDROP and the right to seeds: which links with EU seed marketing rules?
Fulya BATUR, Consultant, Kybele & Geneva Academy

16 :15 – 17:00

Reactions and perspectives of Hungarian stakeholders
Katalin RÉTHY, chair of Magház board and market farmer
Judit FÉHER, Magház and KVANN-Norwegian Seed Savers
Ágoston NOBILIS, organic farmer and seed producer

17:00 – 17:25

Questions & Answers

17:25 – 17:30

Concluding remarks by Zoltán KÁLMÁN, Ambassador, Special Advisor to the Permanent Representation of Hungary to the UN Food and Agriculture Agencies in Rome