94 



3. Q. How many of the plant variety protection certificates 

 are from non-US companies? What procedure is used to register a 

 variety from other countries in the US? 



A. Based on PVP records, 220 certificates (7.1%) are held 

 by non-US companies. Of these 220, 130 certificates are for 

 agricultural crops such as bluegrass, fescue, and ryegrass, 74 

 certificates are for vegetable crops such as garden beans, 

 cauliflower, and peas, and 16 are for ornamental crops such as 

 marigold and phlox. There is no difference in how foreign . 

 applications are handled in the PVP Office compared to domestic 

 applications. In return, U.S. plant breeders receive the same 

 treatment in other UPOV countries as their own breeders receive. 



4. Q. Due to the new infringement on harvested materials and 

 the export of propagating material, is there a potential to 

 restrict trade with countries without Plant breeders' rights? 



A. While the breeder has rights in the USA over varieties 

 protected in the USA, he/she is without recourse in foreign 

 countries which do not have laws guaranteeing plant breeders' 

 rights. The only thing the USA can do about this is to entitle 

 the breeder to collect royalties on harvested material of his/her 

 protected variety once that material enters the USA. That is all 

 that S. 1406 is intended to do. The bill might deter traffic in 

 contraband goods, but the present PVPA, and public policy, 

 discourage unauthorized trade in protected varieties with 

 countries which have no laws guaranteeing plant breeders' rights. 



5. 1406 would have no adverse effect on legitimate trade with 

 other countries. 



5. Q. The UPOV agreement and, therefore, S. 14 06, remove part 

 of the farmers' exemption which allows sale of farmer- saved seed. 

 Were farmers consulted about this change? 



A. Letters dated March 1991 show that the American Farm 

 Bureau (AFA) was providing input on the farmers' exemption at 

 that time. The letters suggest that the AFB's concern was to 

 preserve the privilege of the farmer to save seed for planting on 

 his/her own holding. 



6. Q. After accounting for inflation, have seed prices been 

 affected by the initial enactment of PVPA? Are projections 

 available on the likely impact of preventing brown-bagging, as 

 found in the new provisions of S. 1406, on seed prices? 



A. Seed prices have increased for many crops; however, 

 hybrid varieties of the crops surveyed in Table 1 have increased 

 less than the rate of inflation from 1970 and 1990. Most other 

 types of varieties have increased in price faster than the rate 



