The draft Law on Seed and Variety has been submitted to the Parliament by Mr. Ulaan, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry (MoFALI). The approval of the law will enable local farmers to have access to centralized information about certified, locally adapted, persistent seed and varieties, which would allow farmers to select the right variety for their local conditions and increase productivity. With increased productivity, farmers can obtain decent harvest to generate more income through agriculture and improve livelihood. Also, the law encourages introduction of new plant variety by protecting breeder’s variety as an intellectual property. Furthermore, the better management of  seed and variety will improve the and support national food security index overall.

The draft of the law was initiated by the Inclusive and sustainable vegetable and marketing project (VEGI) (MON/015/SWI) and was submitted to the Task Force under MoFALI in 2017. The project has been continuously working with the Task Force to upgrade the draft Law in line with international standards and principles based on the international experience. FAO have provided technical advisory services to improve the draft law on Seed and Variety upon the request by the Task Force. Mr. Hugo Wilson, Senior Expert of FAO Agricultural Department from FAO Headquarters in Rome and Ms. Raushan Zhazykbayeva, the International Legal Consultant of FAO LEGN, have worked with the Task Force and provided noteworthy recommendations.

Most recently, just before the submission of the draft law to the Parliament, the consultants have worked in Mongolia to support further discussions of the law at Parliament level. The consultant team held meetings with Mr..Bolorchuluun.Kh, Chairman of  Standing Committee on Environment, Food and Agriculture and his team; and Minister Ulaan.Ch to exchange discussions on international principles and best practices on legal framework of seed multiplication and plant variety protection. Experts have concluded that the draft law has covered about all important legal aspects related to seed sector and plant variety protection. Furthermore, the project together with the task force has collaborated with the specialist from The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) to ensure that the draft law complies with UPOV convention.