b"GIANT VIEWSBREEDERS TRUST SETTLES WITH BELGIAN FARM SAVED SEEDS USERTHE SETTLEMENT a process of bringing together informa-In the settlement, the potato growertion from different sources. Information acknowledges that he is guilty of violat- from government services that look at ing PBR by using potatoes of the varietypotato cultivation from a phytosanitary Innovator as farm-saved seeds on his ownpoint of view. Information from the sell-farm without paying the royalties due. Heers of seed potatoes and ultimately the will refrain from further infringing thequantities of potatoes supplied by the PBR, and has paid the owed royalties togrower to the processing industry. Breeders Trust, plus an amount in com- By combining all the information pensation for the legal costs incurred byfrom all these sources, it can be made Breeders Trust caused by this infringement. visible whether the potato growers have been able to grow the number of AN IMPORTANT SIGNAL potatoes produced with the purchased For Breeders Trust, this settlement isamount of seed potatoes. an important signal. All users of farm- It is also important for the process-saved seeds of PBR-protected varieties areing industry whether a potato grower has By Corn van Beers, General Director ofexpected to pay royalties. Breeders need thispaid royalties on the quantity of potatoes Breeders Trust income to continue to develop new potatosupplied. The production of potatoes is varieties that perform well in our chang- only legal if all plant breeders' require-D uring proceedings before the Ligeing climate, that are more resistant to pestsments are met. No processor wants to corporate court, the Brussels-basedand diseases and that are growing efficientlyprocess illegally produced potatoes into Breeders Trust reached a settle- with the available nutrients. Exceptions tofries or crisps in his factory. ment with a Belgian farm-saved seed potatothe obligation to pay royalties undermine grower. The grower refused to pay royaltiesthe solidarity of the other users of farm- A NEW DATABASEon the area planted with farm-saved seedsaved seeds. It remains necessary to some- BreedersTrustisworkingonthe potatoes of the variety Innovator, protectedtimes go to court. development of the PBR Database by plant breeders' rights (PBR). The potatoThis case relates to a Belgian potato(www.pbrdatabase.eu).Adatabase grower found new arguments every time forgrower. Collecting royalties is also ain which the flow of seed potatoes is not having to meet his payment obligation.challenge in other countries of the EU.tracked from the breeder to the farmer. Estimates of missed royalties annually runAlong all the links of the seed potato REGISTRATION IS NECESSARY into millions of euros.chain. This initiative is being developed EU Regulation 2100/94 gives every potatoin six countries in the European Union: grower in the European Union the rightTHE RIGHT TO QUESTION Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, to use part of the harvest in the followingBased on European Regulation 2100/94, aLuxembourg, and the Netherlands with year as farm-saved seeds on their own farm.PBR holder is entitled to question potatothe possibility of expanding to other coun-However, several legal provisions applygrowers whether farm-saved seeds of atries at a later date. The companies affil-to the use of farm-saved seeds. First, inPBR-protected variety are being used.iated with Breeders Trust have selected Belgium, there is an obligation to registerPotato growers who make use of this mustvarieties with which they participate in the cultivation of the farm-saved seed pota- answer the question regarding their use.this project. The PBR Database is a highly toes with the Belgian Federal AuthorityHowever, there are no lists of potato grow- secured black box in which all sales data FAVV. Then, there is the obligation toers who use farm-saved seeds. In certainmust be uploaded. All traders involved report the use of the cultivated farm-savedcountries, farms may not be approached(links in the chain) upload the data to seed potatoes of a PBR-protected variety onwithout information about their use ofwhom they have sold. An intelligent the website: www.hoevepootgoed.be.farm-saved seeds, and an indication regard- Mass Balance system is used to calculate The potato grower involved has meting that use is required. whether all seed potatoes supplied have both obligations. However, the farmer stillbeen resold to a trader or a farmer. The refused to pay the royalties due to BreedersCOMBINING INFORMATION ultimate goal is to get to know the group Trust, which made going to court inevitable. Identifying the users of farm-saved seeds isof potential farm-saved seed users.40ISEED WORLD EUROPEISEEDWORLD.COM/EUROPE | FEBRUARY 2025"