Plant Breeding and Research Association (PBRA) general manager Thomas Chin said the review is long overdue with industry members keen to have input into change that will benefit the wider NZ primary sector.
“NZ’s seed industry underpins our pastoral, arable and horticulture industries.
“Without the very best seed we would struggle to maintain a successful agricultural base and our competitive edge,” Chin said.
The law encourages investment in development of new plant varieties for NZ farmers and growers by granting proprietary rights to breeders and developers.
Ryegrass, clover, wheat, barley and forage brassicas are among key species for pastoral and arable production covered by the legislation.
Breeders, including Crown research institutes, private companies and overseas people, creating new plant varieties are granted exclusive rights to sell and collect royalties on the seed or reproductive material of the variety.
NZ farmers can store and use a protected seed variety if it is used on their own farm.
But Chin said the seed cannot be sold, traded or bartered in any way.
Breeding and commercialising a new cultivar can take up to 10 years and incur more than $1 million of research and development costs.
Strong legal protections will encourage plant breeders to provide the latest advances in seed genetics to farmers and continue doing local research and development.
“We look forward to contributing to the review.
“The association will urge policy makers to preserve farmers’ rights to save and use seed on their own farm and to enable the collection of a royalty on protected seed varieties saved by farmers.
“At the end of the day we want to see our plant laws in step with international standards, which support our vital primary industry in NZ.”
Global plant breeding and development is governed by the Convention of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, known as UPOV 91.
NZ has not yet ratified the convention.
The MBIE paper follows completion of two streams of technical, targeted workshops on intellectual property and plant variety rights with key industry stakeholders and Maori experts.
Public consultation on the issues paper has been invited with submissions closing on December 21.
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi said the paper asks for feedback on the key issues that have been identified with the effectiveness of the plant variety rights regime.
A robust plant variety rights regime gives plant breeders intellectual property rights over new plant varieties they have developed.
“The certainty of those rights encourages the development and dissemination of new plant varieties, which is both good for plant breeders, users of plants and seeds and provides consumers with a wider choice of products.
“At the same time I want to ensure our plant variety rights regime strikes the right balance between the interests of rights holders, Maori, farmers and growers, consumers and our wider economy so NZ gains maximum benefit from the regime while meeting our international and Treaty of Waitangi obligations.”
NZ has obligations under the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership to modernise its regime to meet international standards for plant variety rights protection and must do that within three years of the agreement coming into force for NZ.
“NZ also negotiated a specific exception in the CPTPP to be able to adopt any policy it considers necessary to give effect to our Treaty of Waitangi obligations.
“Ensuring the plant variety rights regime includes adequate protection and recognition of Maori interests in the regime will be an important outcome of this review,” Faafoi said.
Alongside the plant variety rights consultation, Faafoi has also announced the release of a discussion document that considers whether NZ should require patent applicants to provide information on the origin of genetic resources or traditional knowledge used in their inventions.
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The consultation documents and more information can be read at www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/business/intellectual-property/plant-variety-rights/review/issues-paper
