71 



from the improvement, if he wishes, and provide incentive for further develop- 

 ment. 



The Council believes that it is in the best interest of American agriculture and 

 U.S. policy to join the 1991 UPOV Convention. The reciprocal plant breeders' rights 

 that are offered with adoption of the 1991 UPOV Convention, assure developers and 

 users of protected varieties of clearly defined and internationally accepted stand- 

 ards. 



As supporters of S. 1406, we recognize the importance of validating intellectual 

 property rights protection. Indeed, the 1991 UPOV Convention outlines standards 

 for protecting plant breeders' rights, while at the same time helping to arm develop- 

 ers of new varieties with the protection and incentive necessary to bring new and 

 improved products to the markets. These new and improved varieties are developed 

 with the sole intent of providing the necessary tools American farmers need to 

 maintain a well recognized dominance of agricultural markets and high performing 

 seed. American plant breeders fully understand their responsibility to the farmer. 

 Providing enhanced seeds that incorporate drought resistance and pest resistance 

 help the farmer to be a responsible steward, while achieving higher yields and per- 

 formance. 



1991 UPOV CONVENTION PROVISIONS 



The United States is a member of the 1978 UPOV Convention and the NCCPB 

 believes it is important to become a member of the 1991 UPOV Convention. There 

 are certain changes in the 1991 Convention that differ from the 1978 Convention to 

 be considered. The provisions of UPOV pertain only to protected varieties. 



The following are the main modifications in the convention: 



EXTENSION OF THE SCOPE OF BREEDERS' RIGHTS 



The following acts, with some limitations, now require the permission of the 

 breeder. They include: 



1. Production or reproduction 



2. Conditioning for the purpose of propagation 



3. Offering for sale 



4. Selling or other marketing 



5. Exporting 



6. Importing 



7. Stocking for any of the purposes 



Subject to certain limitation, authorization from the breeder must be obtained in 

 respect of harvested material obtained through the unauthorized use of propagating 

 material of the protected variety. Contracting parties may also provide that the 

 breeder's authorization be obtained in respect to products directly obtained from the 

 harvested material. 



INTRODUCTION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF DEPENDENCE 



The principle of dependence flows from the term "essentially derived varieties." 

 At the present, the NCCPB defined the term as follows: 



Varieties which are essentially derived but nonetheless clearly distinguish- 

 able from existing protected varieties qualify for legal protection but should 

 only be commercialized with the consent of the owner of the original 

 variety. 



The principle of dependence would not change the criteria for what qualifies a 

 variety for protection, but if the genetic differences did not meet certain standards, 

 it could not be commercialized without permission of the owner of the variety from 

 which it was derived. 



RECOGNITION OF THE EXISTENCE OF FARM-SAVED SEED 



Although the current PVP Act contains a saved seed provision, the existing 

 UPOV Conventions have no such provision. The new convention simply states that 

 a contracting party may, within reasonable limits and subject to the safeguarding of 

 the legitimate interests of the breeder, restrict the breeder's right in relation to any 

 variety in order to permit farmers to use for propagating purposes, on their own 

 holdings, the product of the harvest for which they have obtained by planting, on 

 their own holdings, the protected variety or an essentially derived variety. "Hold- 

 ings" are considered to be land owned, rented, or leased by a farmer. 



