The Seed Law in Argentina: The Dispute for the Control and Future of Agriculture

Abstract

Since the arrival of the biotechnology revolution in global agriculture, seed-agrochemical corporations have made progress in controlling the international food market, from various mechanisms, including the laws of copyright. In Latin America, various governments have tried to adapt national legislation to these international trends, with mixed results, as it has generated strong resistance from popular organizations. Argentina, a country of early insertion into the international food market and rapid adoption of plants breeders‟ rights (PBR), is now going through a new phase of this dispute, because of the possible adoption of a new Law on Seeds, where US company Monsanto is involved. This paper gives an overview of the current situation from a geographical point of view, paying special attention to the strategies of the organizations that oppose the new legislation.