55 



all forms of intellectual property rights affecting agriculture, including plants, ani- 

 mals and other life forms. 



Specifically, RAFI recommends: 



• Preserve the farmer's exemption. No action should be taken to eliminate the 

 farmer's right to save proprietary seed for replanting on his/her own holdings or to 

 sell limited quantities of seed to his/her neighbor. 



• The U.S. should decline to ratify the 1991 UPOV treaty, pending further study 

 and a comprehensive policy review. 



Senator Kerrey. Thank you, Ms. Shand. 



I would like to see if I could generate a discussion in the time 

 that we have remaining here. Mr. Schmidt, if I might start with 

 you, do you know what the total world market is for seeds and 

 what the U.S. share is of that world market? 



Mr. Schmidt. I do not have the exact figures, unless one of our 

 colleagues has it in front of him, but the United States has a ma- 

 jority of the market. 



Senator Kerrey. And what are the trends, Mr. Schmidt? 



Mr. Schmidt. The trend has been up for the United States. 



Senator Kerrey. Increased market share worldwide? 



Mr. Schmidt. Yes, because of the development of new varieties 

 that are very strong in the United States, but we do not have the 

 security or the protection here in the United States as we now ex- 

 perience in Europe. The Europeans have a much stronger Plant 

 Variety Protection Act, and many companies have actually gone to 

 Europe to breed and protect their varieties over there and those 

 are not available in this country. 



A good example is certainly the company Pioneer, who have dis- 

 continued their breeding work on the Hard Red Winter wheat and 

 Spring wheat and that is now being done in Europe and it is not 

 available over here. 



Senator Kerrey. I would appreciate it if we could have a small 

 discussion of the statement that Ms. Shand just made that seemed 

 to imply that perhaps Third World nations are at risk if we ratify 

 this treaty. My own sense of this is that Third World nations have 

 benefited as a consequence of development of seed. I don't quite un- 

 derstand the statement. 



Perhaps, Ms. Shand, you could respond to my question and then 

 we could have some discussion. 



Ms. Shand. I will say that as far as I understand, no other coun- 

 try has yet ratified the 1991 UPOV treaty. I may be mistaken, but 

 the last time I asked about this that was my understanding. 



I think that, again, it is important to look at this issue in a 

 broader context. At GATT, for instance, the minimum level of pro- 

 tection for plants that is being proposed by industrialized countries 

 and the United States is the plant breeders' rights. Historically, de- 

 veloping countries have declined to have plant breeders' rights in 

 their own countries. Now, under the threat of trade sanctions, they 

 may have little choice in the matter. 



But I think that it needs to be recognized that this is a major 

 subject at the GATT and in other international forums besides de- 

 termining what the United States does. 



Senator Kerrey. First of all, Dr. Clayton, would you give us the 

 status of this? Has the administration sent the treaty to be rati- 

 fied? 



