Rangnekar, Dwijen (2013) Geneva rhetoric, national reality : the political economy of introducing plant breeders' rights in Kenya. New Political Economy . doi:10.1080/13563467.2013.796445 ISSN 1356-3467.

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Abstract

The article is about implementing obligations under Article 27.3(b) of the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS). However, concerned with the fragmentation of international law in a globalised world, the article uses Kenya as a case study to interrogate the apparent choice and latitude in Article 27.3(b). At the TRIPS Council, Kenya has sought to locate Article 27.3(b) within a wider frame by adroitly norm-borrowing, and it canvassed for integrating norms and principles from other multilateral agreements into TRIPS. Yet, when introducing plant breeders' rights into domestic law, Kenya fails to either explore the apparent latitude or deliver on its rhetoric in Geneva. I explain this decoupling between Geneva rhetoric (ritual) and domestic law (behaviour) as another symptom of what Steinberg [(2002), ‘In the Shadow of Law or Power? Consensus-Based Bargaining and Outcomes in the GATT/WTO’, International Organization, 56 (2), pp. 339–74)] characterises as ‘organised hypocrisy’ of the World Trade Organisation. In demonstrating that fragmentation in global legal architecture may not automatically emerge in domestic law, the article draws out the significance of attending to a domestic political economy of law-making.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	K Law [LC] > KN Asia and Eurasia, Africa, Pacific Area, and Antarctica
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	World Trade Organization, Environmental law -- Kenya, International law -- Kenya, State, The, Globalization -- Kenya, Taskforce on Research Innovations for Productivity and Sustainability
Journal or Publication Title:	New Political Economy
Publisher:	Routledge
ISSN:	1356-3467
Official Date:	28 May 2013
Dates:	Date Event 28 May 2013 ["eprint_fieldopt_dates_date_type_available" not defined]
DOI:	10.1080/13563467.2013.796445
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Date of first compliant deposit:	24 December 2015
Date of first compliant Open Access:	24 December 2015
Funder:	Sixth Framework Programme (European Commission) (FP6)
Grant number:	503613

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