PETALING JAYA: The planned law on plant seed quality that is slated to be tabled in Parliament next year is drawing flak from the very farmers that it is supposed to protect.
Farmers’ groups have urged the government to halt the tabling of the Crop Seed Quality Bill in Parliament, citing a lack of transparency, insufficient consultation with farmers and NGOs, and potential threats to farmers’ rights and livelihoods.
Nurfitri Amir Muhammad, chief coordinator of the Malaysian Food Sovereignty Forum (FKMM), which represents several farmers’ organisations and civil society groups, said they want the Bill to be deferred because of low transparency on the matter and few comprehensive consultations with the relevant parties, especially small to medium-scale farmers as well as environmental and agricultural NGOs.
Their concerns come following the announcement by Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu in Parliament on Nov 18 that the Agriculture Department had conducted a series of briefings and performed a regulatory impact analysis (RIA) related to the Bill.
This law requires anyone engaged in seed processing and distribution to obtain a licence from the ministry.
Nurfitri Amir said the regulatory impact statement (RIS) for the Bill, released by the Malaysian Productivity Corporation on June 22, 2018, had not complied with the standard RIS process.
“The first consultation with some of us was only held in 2019. As far as we know, no consultation with farmers or the public ever took place before that RIS was issued in 2018.
“This only makes the RIS an unreliable foundation for introducing the Bill,” he said.
Nurfitri Amir also said FKMM had engaged with Agriculture Department officials three times since the Bill was drafted – once in 2019, initiated by the forum, and twice in 2024, via a third-party invitation.
Regrettably, he said, the department did not hold any talks with FKMM.
“During our initial 2019 meeting, we were briefed on some aspects of the Bill but denied access to its text,” he added.
He also said they are seriously concerned about the stipulation under the Bill that anyone involved in processing, distributing, sharing and selling plant seeds will need a licence.
Failure to comply would result in fines ranging from RM100,000 to RM200,000 and up to three years’ imprisonment.
Nurfitri Amir acknowledged the Bill’s aim to shield seed buyers from falling victim to deception but argued that the licensing requirement, including for small farmers, could potentially consolidate the power of seed companies.
He underlined the values of small farmers’ traditional practices of saving, sharing and selling seeds on a small scale to family and friends for agrobiodiversity and livelihood.
He feels that the Bill’s objectives could be achieved through existing laws, provided there is adequate consultations with farmers and the public.
Nurfitri Amir also said that farmers and civil society groups have pointed out several key concerns about the Bill, including restrictions on farmers’ rights, cost increases due to licence fees and laboratory tests, enhancement of company monopolies, negative impacts on agrobiodiversity and the imposition of heavy fines and jail sentences on farmers and the public.
“The proposed Bill is not just a threat to our livelihood, but a direct assault on our rights and traditions,” he added.
Chee Yoke Ling, executive director of Third World Network, a Malaysian policy research organisation, said they had gathered signatures from a coalition of 106 farmers’ organisations and civil society groups representing thousands of members contributing to the country’s domestic supply chain, to appeal to the government to halt the planned tabling of the Bill.
She also cited Indonesia’s enactment of a similar law many years ago regarding seed quality, which led to the arrest of farmers for unregistered seed planting.
Chee raised concerns about the Bill’s requirement for seeds to be registered and tested in a specific way, arguing that such a top-down strategy is ineffective.
She said they intend to write to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, who chairs the executive committee on National Food Security Policy.
Mohamad recently announced that the Crop Seed Quality Bill would be submitted to a Parliamentary Special Select Committee before being tabled in the Dewan Rakyat.
He said the RIA process for the Bill had been in place since March 6, 2013, while the RIA process for amending the Protection of New Plant Varieties Act 2004 had started on May 15, 2019.