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 of the plant breeder in these days, of course, when more and more 

 agricultural land is being converted from agriculture to housing 

 and industry. 



The development of new plant varieties is arduous, time- 

 consuming and costly. Many years must be spent in the 

 development of a single new variety, with no guarantee of its 

 success or profit. By granting to the owner of a variety the 

 right to prevent unauthorized sale of seed of that variety, the 

 PVPA provides the owner with the opportunity to recover the costs 

 of development. This encourages investment in new varieties that 

 respond to the changing needs of American agriculture. 



The UPOV Convention provides for uniform practice in 

 construction and administration of plant variety protection laws 

 in the various member states. If the United States is to ratify 

 the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention, the Plant Variety Protection 

 Act will need to be amended to conform to its provisions. 



Should the amendments be adopted, they will serve American 

 agriculture and the American consumer in several ways: 



First. They will encourage the development of new varieties 

 for American growers by strengthening the rights of those who 

 develop the varieties in order to ensure an adequate return on 

 their investment. 



Second. They will encourage other countries to follow suit, 

 thereby increasing markets abroad for the products of American 

 agriculture by assuring that American originators of new 

 varieties could apply for effective protection available in other 



