54 



ator Kerrey and the U.S. Department of Agriculture covering tuber 

 propagated varieties. 



Thank you for holding this hearing. I will be happy to answer 

 any of your questions. 



[The prepared statement of Mr. Flieler appears at the conclusion 

 of the hearing.] 



Mr. Stenholm. Thank you. 



Next, Dr. David Douches, research geneticist and potato breeder. 



STATEMENT OF DAVID S. DOUCHES, RESEARCH GENETICIST 

 AND POTATO BREEDER, DEPARTMENT OF CROP AND SOIL- 

 SCIENCES, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY 



Mr. Douches. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



My name is Dr. David Douches, and I am a research geneticist 

 and potato breeder at Michigan State University. 



I would request that my full testimony be included in the record. 



Mr. Stenholm. Without objection. 



Mr. Douches. Thank you. 



Today I am testifying on behalf of the National Potato Council 

 which is the only trade association representing 10,500 commercial 

 potato growers in 50 States. 



The Potato Association of America also supports my testimony, 

 and I ask that a letter attached to my prepared statement, from 

 its president, T. Richard Tarn, be included for the record. 



Mr. Stenholm. Without objection. 



Mr. Douches. Thank you. 



S. 1406 has been amended to include language which brings 

 tuber propagated plants under the Plant Variety Protection Act. 

 The Plant Patent Act currently specifically excludes tuber propa- 

 gated plants. 



This amendment to S. 1406 was developed in conjunction with 

 the administration which supports the amendment. We urge that 

 H.R. 2927 be amended to include the identical language. 



So we ask the question why do we need to have an economically 

 important crop like potato included in a Plant Variety Protection 

 Act? Well, first of all, we have seen Canada institute plant breeder 

 rights on potato cultivars in a form similar to the UPOV conven- 

 tion and also recommend that the United States have a similar 

 form of protection to unify North American intellectual property 

 rights for the potato. 



This equivalent form of protection in the United States is the 

 PVPA. A common form of protection for potatoes among UPOV 

 countries would allow the United States to compete in a global 

 market. 



Second, since the 1920's, potato breeding and germplasm re- 

 search in the United States has been the primary responsibility of 

 the public institutions, such as the USDA and land-grant univer- 

 sities. In some States there has been a reduction in funding of pub- 

 lic breeding efforts and also a loss of public potato breeding pro- 

 grams in the past few years. The reduction in funding has led the 

 public institutions to find alternate means of funding programs and 

 to explore various avenues to achieve program viability. 



One means of program support is royalty collection via the pro- 

 tection of varieties. PVPA could provide the protection needed. 



