Draft Law on Seed Trade Regulation in Lebanon
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Despite a history dating back to the dawn of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent, Lebanon’s agricultural heritage faces an existential threat today from the proposed "Seed, Seedlings, and Propagation Material Regulation Law." Amid a suffocating economic crisis and severe food insecurity affecting nearly 1.17 million people, this draft law threatens to exacerbate the situation rather than resolve it. Formulated in cooperation with foreign entities and without consulting farmers, it represents a radical shift aimed at commodifying and privatizing seeds. This threatens to dismantle thousands of years of agricultural traditions, instituting a system that traps farmers in a cycle of "seed slavery" and converts the national vital heritage into a monopoly-controlled commodity.
Core Objections to the Draft Law
The current draft presents a legal framework focused on commercial interests at the expense of food sovereignty and biodiversity. The main objections raised by the Agricultural Movement and civil society focus on the following pillars:
Marginalization of Local Seeds & Farmers’ Rights
The law prioritizes "commercial regulation" (Article 1) instead of protecting farmers' rights to save and exchange their seeds. It imposes mandatory registration as a condition for trading, criminalizing traditional practices and placing financial and bureaucratic burdens that small-scale farmers cannot bear.
Imposition of Exclusionary Commercial Standards
The law links variety registration to "Distinctness, Uniformity, and Stability" (DUS) criteria. These standards are designed for industrial and hybrid seeds produced by major corporations—who control over 60% of the global seed market—leading to the exclusion of local varieties known for their natural genetic diversity. This paves the way for imposing Intellectual Property Rights on seeds, entrenching monopoly.
Absence of GMO Ban
The draft law lacks any clear definition or explicit ban on the import or production of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), representing a dangerous legislative gap that threatens biosafety and the environment in Lebanon.
Lack of Representation and Transparency
The proposed "Seed Committee" (Article 4) decisively excludes farmers and civil society organizations from decision-making, opening the door to the dominance of commercial interests. Furthermore, excessive confidentiality clauses (Article 13) grant immunity to corporations and contradict principles of transparency and the right to access information.
Conclusion and Call to Action
The draft law in its current form is not a tool for developing the agricultural sector, but a mechanism to impose an industrial agricultural model serving corporate interests at the expense of national interest. It threatens to destroy biological heritage, deepen farmers' dependency, and undermine the country's food and health security.
Therefore, it is essential to immediately suspend the legislative process of this law and call for the formation of a new national mechanism for agricultural policy-making. This mechanism must ensure mandatory, effective, and significant representation for all stakeholders, primarily small-scale farmers, agricultural workers, and women, alongside independent experts and civil society organizations.
Drafting a fair and sustainable seed law requires an alternative framework rooted in food sovereignty principles, enshrining the protection of local seeds as a public commons, banning GMOs, and supporting farmers as guardians of biodiversity and the foundation of food security in Lebanon.
We call upon you to reconsider this draft, followed by the formation of a new national mechanism for agricultural policy-making in Lebanon. This must guarantee mandatory and effective representation for small farmers, agricultural workers, women, and food sovereignty networks, aiming to draft a law that protects biodiversity, enshrines farmers' rights, and strengthens Lebanon's food sovereignty instead of surrendering it to foreign corporate interests.
