by Linda Straker
- Government voted against motion presented by Senator Roderick St Clair
- No mandate to prioritise Intellectual Property Rights for farming and agriculture communities
- IPR can grow economy and protect agricultural produce, research and development
The Government side in the Upper House or Senate, with the support of the business community representative, voted against a motion presented by Senator Roderick St Clair, the Agriculture and Fishing Senator, to prioritise Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for agriculture by signing the relevant international and regional treaties and conventions.
Leader of Government Business Senator Adrian Thomas, along with senators David Andrew, Claudette Joseph, Jonathan La Crette, Gloria Thomas, Quinc Britton, and Salim Rahaman, voted against the motion.
Senators Roderick St Clair, Norland Cox, Neilon Franklyn, Katisha Douglas and André Lewis voted in support of the motion.
As a result of the vote, the motion failed to get the relevant support, and thus there is no mandate to prioritise IPR for the farming and agriculture communities.
The motion read:
“MOTION ON THE NEED FOR GOVERNMENT TO INCREASE ITS EMPHASIS ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, RELATED TREATIES, AND ASSOCIATED LAWS TO BENEFIT AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES
WHEREAS intellectual property (IP) in agriculture and fisheries stands to bring increased economic benefits to Grenada;
AND WHEREAS despite this potential to increase the contribution of agriculture and fisheries to Grenada’s GDP, there is a need for a greater thrust for the accession of the relevant treaties and enactment of the relevant laws;
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Senate support this request for the Governing administration to:
(i) Prioritise the relevant and implement the IP related Agriculture and fisheries treaties and associated laws that stand to increase Grenada’s Agriculture and fisheries contribution to GDP;
(ii) Act urgently and attract as is required the relevant resources (human and financial) to successfully implement the accession of the treaties and laws so prioritised in a timely manner.”
In his argument for support of the motion, St Clair told the Senate that IPR is important because it can grow the economy and, at the same time, protect agricultural produce, especially in the area of research and development.
