Non-government organisations in francophone Africa are protesting against the revised Bangui Agreement, a new law to be administered by the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI). It is scheduled to come into force on 28 February 2002. This agreement, signed by OAPI’s 15 member states in February 1999, introduces -- for the first time ever -- a regime of intellectual property rights on seeds in francophone Africa. The Bangui Agreement was revised without any consultation with or participation of farmers, even though they will be seriously affected by the new law. The agreement restricts the rights of farmers to save seeds from their harvests and imposes a system of royalty payments on commercial planting material.