b"YOU ARE MYTH TAKENPLANT BREEDERS RIGHTSCOMPILED BY MARCEL BRUINSMYTH: PLANT BREEDERS RIGHTS (PBR) IN LINEment). And for them, an important source of revenue for these WITH UPOV 1991 BLOCKS FARMERS TO USE FARM- breeding efforts is the royalties they earn with their varieties, SAVED SEEDwhich can be reinvested. Furthermore, UPOV91 based PBR pro-FACT:This needs to be clarified because it is incorrect. First oftects the investments made by farmers and taxpayers in public all, if farmers prefer to employ unprotected or old varieties andbreeding institutions.landraces, there are no restrictions on using farm-saved seed. For PBR protected varieties, according to European PBR lawsMYTH: PLANT BREEDERS RIGHTS WILL RESTRICT for major crops including cereals, pulses, and oilseed rape, twoACCESS TO HERITAGE OR HEIRLOOM VARIETIES circumstances must be taken into account if farmers intend toFACT:A plant variety must be new to qualify for protection. grow modern protected varieties: a) Farm-saved seed may beBy definition, heirloom and heritage varieties are old and do used without restrictions on the farms of small farmers who pro- not meet the requirements for plant breeders rights. The plant duce less than 92 tons of cereals or the equivalent in other crops;variety becomes public domain once PBR expires. The varie-and b) Large farmers are permitted to use farm-saved seed onties of today that are protected through plant breeders rights, their own farms but must pay royalties to the variety's breeder.include many of tomorrow's heritage and heirloom types. Farmers and breeders must agree on the amount of the royalty,Up to the end of 2021, over 330,000 titles of protection had which cannot be less than 50 per cent of a commercial royalty.been granted in UPOV members. Only a little over 155,000 of The farmers exception is an important benefit sharingthose titles are currently still in force, and almost 188,000 titles provision of UPOV 1991 that strikes a balance. As a customaryhave ceased to be in force, and the varieties are now freely avail-practice, farmers can save, and reuse, farm saved seed. However,able for farmers to use in the relevant countries.when they do so, they also should compensate the breeder, whichIn addition, often IP protection is surrendered by the encourages re-investment and continuous progress in breeding.breeder and becomes public domain well before the UPOV min-imum 20 years of protection (25 years for trees and vines). MYTH: UPOV91 ONLY BENEFITS LARGE MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS MYTH: VARIETAL AND GENETIC DIVERSITY IS FACT:In all nations, for all parties (e.g., public, private, producer,REDUCED BY UPOV 91or partnerships), stronger breeder protection will encourage aFACT:Stronger protection encourages innovation, and the favourable business environment for investments in plant breed- breeder and research exemptions encourage the sharing and use ing. And lets not forget that in many countries, public institu- of germplasm. The genetic and varietal diversity can even rise in tions are the primary source ofcountries with UPOV 91. Numerous studies have demonstrated applications for agriculturalthat the implementation of UPOV 91 results in an increase in crops (universities, federalbreeders, investment levels, the diversity of breeding activities and provincial govern- (public vs. private, small, medium, and large producers, and public-private partnerships), the number and diversity of crop species, and the number of cultivars within a crop kind or spe-cies. Generally, a UPOV 91 based PBR system will give breeders the confidence to release new, different, and innovative varie-ties into a marketplace, improving both varietal and genetic diversity.For further reading, please see the UPOV Report on the Impact of Plant Variety Protection (https://www.upov.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/upov_pub_353.pdf) or the Symposium on the Benefits of Plant Variety Protection for Farmers and Growers (UPOV/SYM/GE/12) (https://www.upov.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=26104 )16IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM"