After much anticipation, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) published draft Regulations to implement the Plant Improvement Act (2018) (PIA) – also known as South Africa’s Seed Law – and the Plant Breeders Rights Act (2018) (PBRA), for public comment. The closing date for comments on the Draft Regulations has passed. The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) submitted comments timeously, after a long journey of robust civil society advocacy and activism, following the revision of the 1976 versions of both laws.

The engagement by the ACB, along with other civil society and farmer groups in South Africa, has been consistent and strategic:

• Making numerous submissions on the Bills and draft Regulations;
• Developing briefings;
• Informing and mobilising farmers and civil society to make submissions and sign petitions,
• Participating in national consultations and provincial hearings;
• Presenting at public hearings, and
• Being present at Parliamentary deliberations on the seed laws.