At present, farmers' rights are, in contrast to patents and plant breeders' rights, not an operational mechanism to protect genetic resources. One of the aims of the ongoing revision of the "International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources" (International Undertaking) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations is the further realization of farmers' rights. In the negotiations up to now, there was only agreement on the fact that the responsibility to realize farmers' rights lies with national governments, and on the enumeration of potential contents of these rights. Irrespective of whether farmers' rights are realized on the national or international level, many yet unsolved questions arise. For example, the legal form, the content and the potential holders of these rights need to be determined. In case the provisions on farmers' rights of the draft for a revised International Undertaking remain unchanged until the end of the ongoing revision, these questions need tobe answered by national governments when realizing these rights on the national level. This remains undoubtedly a most difficult and challenging task.
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