8 



promise of turf that needs less watering than more conventional grass. Increased 

 production per acre remains a goal of the plant breeder in these days when more 

 and more agricultural land is being converted from agriculture to housing and in- 

 dustry. 



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 guar- 

 antee of its success or profit. By granting to the owner of a variety the right to pre- 

 vent 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 adminis- 

 tration 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 Protec- 

 tion 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: 



1. 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. 



2. They will encourage other countries to follow suit, thereby increasing markets 

 abroad for the products of American agriculture by assuring that American origi- 

 nators of new varieties could apply for effective protection available in other con- 

 vention countries. 



3. They will increase access by American growers to high quality varieties of seeds 

 developed outside the United States that might not otherwise be available in this 

 country. Foreign breeders will have the confidence that adequate and effective 

 protection is available to them in the United States. As a consequence, American 

 consumers will benefit from a wider and more secure food and fiber supply and 

 American plant breeders will be able to use these varieties in their own breeding 

 programs. 



Mr. Chairman, we commend you and the subcommittee for holding this hearing. 

 We hope that with the collective efforts and wisdom of the Congress, the executive 

 branch, consumers, the seed trade industry, the agricultural production sector, 

 public interest groups, and plant breeders, we may be able to improve our PVPA, 

 thus permitting the United States to become party to the 1991 act of the UPOV 

 Convention and thereby better serve American agriculture and the American con- 

 sumer. The administration supports amendments which make the following changes 

 in the PVPA. 



The American tradition of encouraging farming by private individuals goes back 

 to the founding of our Nation. Under S. 1406, a provision is included which would 

 continue to safeguard the privilege of farmers to save seed of a protected variety for 

 planting on their own holdings. The sale of seed by farmers to others would be pro- 

 hibited under S. 1406. However, the privilege of farmers to sell saved seed protected 

 under present law would not be diminished. Rather, sale of saved seed would be sub- 

 ject to authorization by the breeder only for varieties receiving protection after the 

 date of enactment of S. 1406. This change in the farmers' exemption is necessary to 

 comply with the 1991 Convention. 



I want to make it clear that this administration wants to continue helping farm- 

 ers. However, beyond the original purchase price of the seed, no payment is now 

 made to the companies that developed the varieties by those selling saved seed. 

 While this practice has been possible under the current PVPA, it is not compatible 

 with the 1991 act of the UPOV Convention. 



Prohibiting sales of saved seed for replanting is not, however, simply a matter of 

 protecting seed companies. Without encouragement for investment in the develop- 

 ment of new varieties, the whole farming community will gradually be put at a dis- 

 advantage. Fewer plant varieties with improved characteristics will be developed, 

 leaving farmers to plant outmoded varieties which give lower yields and which suc- 

 cumb to new strains of pests and diseases. Farmers in other countries where invest- 

 ment in new varieties has continued will enjoy a clear competitive advantage. 



Another major change to be made by these amendments is the establishment of a 

 category of "essentially derived varieties." This change, which would be applicable 

 only to varieties protected under S. 1406 and would not apply retroactively, would 

 enable the owner of an "initial" variety to exclude the selling or marketing of varie- 

 ties that differ only slightly from the initial variety. This concept is the most strik- 

 ing innovation in the 1991 revision of the UPOV Convention. It is anticipated that 

 this change will end the practice of altering just slightly the successful varieties of 



