Dutch people violate Agria Plant Breeders' Rights

Six Dutch arable farmers have violated Agria's Plant Breeders' Rights. The companies were caught by Breeders Trust. The organization announced this in a press release on Thursday 21 December.

The Dutch companies have been instructed not to move or trade the seed potatoes harvested in 2017 (without the permission of the plant breeder's right holder). The parties involved depend on the plant breeders' rights holders whether the harvested seed potatoes are destroyed.

Plant breeder's rights violated
Agria's Plant Breeders' Rights expired on 24 November 2016. "The yield of the propagated and harvested starting material in 2016 is still subject to Plant Breeders' Rights and could therefore not be used for further propagation in 2017 without permission", explains Geert Staring, director of Breeders Trust.

"We take this very seriously. This is not only a matter of breach of contract, but it is also expressly laid down in Plant Breeders' Rights that no kilogram of licensed seed potatoes may be imported and/or propagated without permission in a country where the variety is protected by plant breeders' rights."

Creating clarity 
According to Staring, it is important that there is clarity, because more varieties will be released in the coming years. "Smart people, who think they can already start building a variety behind the scenes, run into the problem. The variety owner has the authority to request all data about his/her variety and farmers who propagate unauthorized are immediately excluded. the basket," Staring said. 

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

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