Could CIP have refused to give the [yacon] genetic material to the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture?
CIP is obliged to fulfill requests made by national authorities of any country for the return or repatriation of genetic material supplied by that country. Each country exercises its sovereign right to decide how it uses its genetic resources, and CIP has no authority to interfere with or establish limits to this procedure. The five in vitro yacon plants from CIP’s collection were delivered to the Peruvian authorities with a written warning indicating that their phytosanitary state was unknown and therefore their eligibility for export could not be guaranteed.
