100 



12 



accede to UPOV. 



Mexico has been drafting legislation to implement Plant Breeders' 

 Rights in the Secretaria Agricultura. This would be similar to 

 US Plant Variety Protection in the Department of Agriculture. 

 This would cover all plant varieties which would not qualify for 

 a patent. Together, these two laws would permit Mexico to accede 

 to UPOV. To date, Mexican Plant Breeders' Rights have not been 

 implemented. Until such time, Mexico cannot accede to UPOV. 



17. Q. The European system of plant breeders' rights currently 

 has restrictions on which varieties may be sold. New varieties 

 must be adaptable and not inferior to current varieties. Will 

 these restrictions be removed under provisions of the new UPOV? 



A. The European system of national varietal lists will not 

 be affected by the 1991 UPOV Convention. By the same token, the 

 U.S. is not obligated ever to adopt such a system. 



18. Q. Section 12, the transition section, leaves current PVPA 

 provisions on certificates already enforce. Does the effective 

 date provision of S. 1406 prevent owners of currently protected 

 varieties from claiming such varieties as "initial varieties"? 

 If future varieties are essentially derived and based on these 

 previously protected varieties, must the prior owners give 

 permission? 



A. The effective date provision of S. 1406 would prevent 

 owners of currently protected varieties from claiming such 

 varieties as "initial varieties". If future varieties are 

 essentially derived and based on these previously protected 

 varieties, the prior owners' permission will not be necessary to 

 perform the acts listed in 7 U.S.C. 2541. 



19. Q. The effective date of the proposed amendments allows 

 farmers to continue to sell farmer-saved seed of the varieties 

 protected under current law. This could cause confusion about 

 which varieties are subject to the restriction on selling of 

 farmer-saved seed. Is it possible to clarify this with 

 labelling? 



A. It is indeed possible to write regulations regarding 

 labelling which would help differentiate clearly between 

 varieties protected under present law and those protected under 

 S. 1406. Alternatively, seed companies might voluntarily market 

 the latter varieties in, for example, distinctively colored bags. 



20. Q. Article 40 of the UPOV Convention states: "This 

 Convention shall not limit existing breeders' rights under the 

 laws..." If the transition section were changed to impose the 

 definition of essential derivation on currently protected 

 varieties, would this be construed as limiting existing breeders' 



