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recent years, she has seen warning signs
related to Canada’s outdated legislation.
“It creates an uncertain environment for
breeders, particularly
private-sector
breeders, to invest in
Canada,” she said.
“Just as important,
or even more
importantly, it makes
it more difficult for us
to attract international
investments.”
Townsend
explained that her
concerns were more
than mere speculation.
“We had a letter from the European
Seed Association saying very clearly that
European seed companies would not
send their varieties to Canada until we
are compliant with UPOV 91,” she said.
Like Mastin, Townsend said plant
breeders werent’t the only ones
negatively impacted by the wait.
“It was hurting farmers,” she said.
“The provisions included in this new
bill will give Canadian breeders more
confidence to develop new varieties here,
and it will also give international breeders
and developers the
confidence to provide
their advanced
varieties to farmers in
Canada.”
Many of the
arguments against
UPOV 91 are
simply wrong, said
Townsend.
She doesn’t believe
that stronger PBR
legislation will weaken
the research activity of governments
and universities—institutions that tend to
focus on open-pollinated crops rather
than hybrids and genetic modification.
“Plant breeders’ rights are used more
by the public sector than by the private
sector,” she said. “All the varieties that
are developed by Agriculture and Agri-
Food Canada, universities, provincial
researchers—they’re the ones that use
plant breeders’ rights.”
Winter
2014
Grains
West
30
“Farmers know that the
only way they’re going
to get new varieties
is if we have the kind
of environment that
investors and breeders
need.”
– Patty Townsend
Bill C-18,
the Agricultural Growth Act,
was introduced
December 9, 2013 in
the House of Commons.