b"Lessons Learned from Argentinas UPOV 91 DebateUPOV 91 or not, Argentina made progress in analyzing the status of its seed legislation.Elena MansurIN ARGENTINA,the recent debate regarding its adherencewhether judges should wear togas in court. Hidden among the to the 1991 Act of the International Union for the Protectionmore than 600 articles was one that would bring Argentina of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV 91) has been one of theinto UPOV 91. Multinational seed companies were hopeful, as most contentious and significant for its seed sector. Althoughtheyd until then not been successful in their advocacy efforts to Argentina did not, in the end, subscribe to this convention, thechange Argentinas seed law.process left a series of crucial lessons for all the actors involved,Had the bill passed, Argentina would have transitioned from from producers and seed companies to legislators and civilUPOV 78 to UPOV 91, which would have resulted in: society. -Establishing the rights and obligations of the producer regarding the reservation and use of farm-saved seeds Background requires adapting the national regulatory framework,Argentina's negotiation of its adherence to the UPOV 91 Act was- restrictions on farmers rights to freely use their seeds,debated in the context of a new government. Javier Milei, upon- eliminate the possibility of variety patenting,taking office as President of Argentina on December 10, 2023,-the extension of breeders rights to harvested material was faced with very urgent priorities, such as high inflation andwhere propagation materials are used without authorization, poverty. The need to address these urgencies limited the ability- a requirement that new varieties bred from a PVP (Plantto discuss other priorities, such as UPOV91, in a comprehensiveVariety Protection) variety feature major changes; otherwise, manner.the new variety must be considered essentially derived Just 17 days into his presidency, Mileis government intro- from the PVP variety, with ownership of the new variety rest-duced a wide-ranging omnibus bill that included articles toing with the PVP varietys breeder.tackle big and small urgencies, from changing taxation toThe project reached the final stage of the debate. First, the preliminary omnibus bill included UPOV 91. At the end of 16/ SEEDWORLD.COMLATAM"