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STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS.
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S.I. No.
493 of 2000.
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PLANT VARIETIES (FARM SAVED SEED)
REGULATIONS, 2000.
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S.I. No. 493 of 2000.
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PLANT VARIETIES (FARM SAVED SEED)
REGULATIONS, 2000.
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I, JOE WALSH, Minister for
Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, in exercise of the powers conferred
on me by section 19(6) of the Plant Varieties (Proprietary Rights)
(Amendment) Act 1998 ( No. 41 of 1998 ) (as adapted by the Agriculture and
Food (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order, 1999 ( S.I.
No. 307 of 1999 )), hereby make the following regulations:
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1. These Regulations may
be cited as the Plant Varieties (Farm Saved Seed) Regulations, 2000.
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2. In these Regulations—
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“Act of 1998” means Plant
Varieties (Proprietary Rights) (Amendment) Act, ( No. 41 of 1998 );
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“farmer” means a person
who uses a protected variety.
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3. If the holder and the
farmer do not reach agreement as regards remuneration for the purposes of
section 19(4) of the Act of 1998, then the level of remuneration is, by
virtue of these Regulations, fixed at 50 per cent of the sum charged for the
licensed production of propagating material of the lowest category qualified
for official certification of the same variety in the State.
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4. A farmer or the service
that he or she engages, may process the farm saved seed for planting and may
move the farm saved seed from the farm for the purposes of such processing
provided that:
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(a) the identity of
the farm saved seed is not lost, and
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(b) if the farmer engages a service which
is approved by the Minister.
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5. If an order has been
made pursuant to section 19(2) of the Act of 1998 in relation to a plant
variety, the Controller of Plant Breeders' rights, the farmer, the holder
and the processor shall provide information in respect of that plant variety
in accordance with the Schedule to these Regulations.
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6. A farmer who
contravenes these regulations shall be deemed to have infringed Plant
Breeders' rights pursuant to section 21 of the Act of 1998.
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Schedule
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Information by
the farmer
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1. The farmer shall, on
request of the holder, be required to provide a statement of relevant
information to the holder. The following items shall be considered to be
relevant:
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(a) the name of the farmer, the place of
his domicile and the address of his holding,
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(b) the fact whether the farmer has made
use of the product of the harvest belonging to one or more varieties of the
holder for planting in the field or fields of his holding,
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(c) if the farmer has made such use, the
amount of the product of the harvest belonging to the variety or varieties
concerned,
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(d) under the same condition, the name
and address of the person or persons who have supplied a service of
processing the relevant product of the harvest for him for planting,
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(e) whether he has already used the
variety concerned without payment of a remuneration, and if so, since when.
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2. The information under
paragraph 1 (b), (c), (d), and (e) shall refer
to the current marketing year and to one or more of the three preceeding marketing years for which the farmer had not
previously provided relevant information on request made by the holder in
accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 3 or 4.
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However, the first marketing year to which
the information refers, shall not be earlier than the one in which the first
of such requests for information was made in respect of the variety or
varieties and the farmer concerned.
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3. In his request, the
holder shall specify his name and address, the variety or varieties in
respect of which he is interested in information, as well as the reference
or references to the relevant Plant Breeders, right or rights. If required
by the farmer, the request shall be made in writing, and evidence for holdership shall be provided. Without prejudice to the
provisions of paragraph 4, the request shall be made directly to the farmer
concerned.
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4. A request which has not
been made directly to the farmer concerned, shall be acceptable to the
Minister, if it is sent to farmers through the following bodies or persons,
with their prior agreement respectively:
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— organisations of farmers or
co-operatives, concerning all farmers who are members of such organisation
or cooperative, or,
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— processors, concerning all farmers
to whom they have supplied a service of processing the relevant product of
the harvest for planting, in the current marketing year and in the three
preceding marketing years, starting in the marketing year as specified in
paragraph 2,
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— suppliers of licensed propagating
material of varieties of the holder, concerning all farmers to whom they
have supplied such propagating material in the current marketing year and in
the three preceding marketing years, starting in the marketing year as
specified in paragraph 2.
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5. The organizations,
co-operatives, processors or suppliers shall be authorised by the farmers
concerned to forward the required information to the holder.
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Information by
the processor
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1. The details of the
relevant information to be provided by the processor to the holder are—
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(a) the name of the processor, the place
of his domicile and the name and address registered for his business;
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(b) the fact whether the processor has
supplied a service of processing the product of the harvest belonging to one
or more varieties of the holder for planting, where the variety or varieties
were declared or otherwise known to the processor;
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(c) if the processor has supplied such
service, the amount of the product of the harvest belonging to the variety
or varieties concerned, which has been processed for planting, by the
processor, and the total amount resulting from the processing;
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(d) the dates and places of the
processing referred to in (c); and
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(e) the name and address of the person or
persons to whom he has supplied the service of processing referred to in (c),
and the respective amounts.
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2. The information under
paragraph 1(b), (c), (d) and (e) shall refer to
the current marketing year and to one or more of the three preceding
marketing years for which the farmer had not previously provided relevant
information on request made by the holder in accordance with the provisions
of paragraphs 3 or 4.
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However, the first marketing year to which
the information refers, shall not be earlier than the one in which the first
of such requests for information was made in respect of the variety or
varieties and the farmer concerned.
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3. In his request, the
holder shall specify his name and address, the variety or varieties in
respect of which he is interested in information as well as the reference or
references to the relevant Plant Breeders' right or rights. If required by
the processor, the request shall be made in writing, and evidence for holdership shall be provided. Without prejudice to the
provisions of paragraph 4, the request shall be made directly to the
processor concerned.
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4. A request which has not
been made directly to the processor concerned, shall be acceptable to the
Minister if it is sent to processors through the following bodies or
persons, with their prior agreement respectively:
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— organisations of processors which
are established at national, regional or local level, concerning all
processors who are members of, or represented in, such organisation,
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— farmers, concerning all processors
who have supplied a service of processing the relevant product of the
harvest to them for planting, in the current marketing year and in the three
preceding marketing years, starting in the marketing year as specified in
paragraph 2.
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5. The organisations or
farmers shall be authorised by the processors concerned to forward the
required information to the holder.
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Information by
the holder
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1. The details of the
information to be provided by the holder to the farmer, on request of the
farmer from whom the holder has claimed the payment of remuneration are:
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— the amount charged for the licensed
production of propagating material of the lowest category qualified for
official certification, of the same variety in the area in which the holding
of the farmer is located, or,
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— if no licensed production of propagating
material of the variety concerned has taken place in the area in which the
holding of the farmer is located, and if there is no uniform level of the
aforesaid amount throughout the Community, the amount which is normally
included, for the above purpose, in the price at which propagating material
of the lowest category qualified for official certification, of that variety
is sold in that area, as well as the aforesaid amount charged in the area in
which that propagating material has been produced.
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Information by
an Official body
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1. In this Schedule
“Official body” means any or all of the following—
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(a) the Minister for Agriculture, Food
and Rural Development,
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(b) the Controller
of Plant Breeders' Rights,
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(c) the Central
Statistics Office,
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(d) Teagasc, and
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(e) the Plant
Variety Development Office Limited.
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2. A request for
information on the actual use of material, by planting, of specific species
or varieties, or on the results of such use, which a holder addresses to an
Official body, must be made in writing. In this request, the holder shall
specify his name and address, the variety or varieties in respect of which
he is interested in information and the type of information he seeks. He
also shall provide evidence for his holdership.
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3. The Official body, may
withhold the requested information if—
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(a) that Official body is not involved in
monitoring agricultural production,
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(b) that Official body is prevented,
either by the Laws of the European Communities or any enactment or rule of
law, from providing such information,
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(c) the requested information is not
available or is no longer available,
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(d) such information cannot be obtained
through the ordinary performance of the tasks of the Official body,
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(e) such information can only be obtained
with additional burden or costs, or,
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(f) such information relates specifically
to material which does not belong to varieties of the holder.
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4. In providing the
information, the official body shall not differentiate between holders. The
official body may provide the requested information in making copies
available to the holder, which have been produced from documents containing
information additional to that relating to material belonging to varieties
of the holder, provided that it is ensured that any possibility to identify
individuals has been removed.
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5. If the official body
takes the decision to withhold the requested information, it shall inform
the requesting holder thereof in writing and indicate the reason for this
decision.
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GIVEN under my Official Seal, this
15th day of December, 2000.
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JOE WALSH,
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Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development.
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EXPLANATORY NOTE.
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(This note is not part
of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)
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The purpose of this
Regulation is to enable breeders of plant varieties to collect royalties on
the varieties they have bred and developed and which are used for farm saved
seed. Until now, there has been no provision for the collection of royalty
payments on farm saved seed.
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Under this Regulation, farmers retaining a
portion of their harvest for re-sowing may be required to pay the holder of
a Plant Breeders' Right a royalty fee.
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Small farmers (as described in council
Regulation (EC) 2100/94 concerning Community Plant Variety Rights) are
exempt from the payment of royalties.
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The plant species covered by these Regulations
are Cereals, Fodder plants, Oil and Fibre plants (excluding Flax) and
Potatoes.
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