Copa and Cogeca warned against using patents in the EU agriculture sector at a seminar today by the CPVO on the interface between patents and plant variety rights in Brussels , saying it will result in less products and varieties and additional costs .

Speaking at the event, Chairman of Copa-Cogeca Working Party on Seeds Thor Kofoed said “A patent system in the EU agriculture sector will not help farmers to get a better crop variety adapted to local conditions. Instead, it will lead to less products and less varieties and additional costs. Copa and Cogeca are very concerned by the increasing number of patents granted to plants”

Patenting biological processes

He pointed to the recent decision of the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) which recognise two patents: one from a British company for broccoli that contains a bitter anti-carcinogenic substance, and another from an Israeli company for 'wrinkly' tomatoes that have a reduced water content. But Copa-Cogeca warns that the specific characteristics of these broccoli and tomato plants were not invented or artificially manufactured. They were present in the wild parent plants and are the result of crossing and selection practices, which are essentially biological processes. Copa-Cogeca is extremely worried that this decision extends the scope of the patent to all broccoli and tomato plants that have these characteristics. This protection will mean that all companies that produce varieties with the same features will have to obtain a licence from the patent holder.. This poses a risk for both farmers and society in general. It could jeopardise progress in breeding, and decrease innovation and biodiversity, thus resulting in increasing consolidation in the seed industry. Given the high legal costs associated with patenting, as well as the high transaction costs of licensing, only a limited number of large companies will manage to survive.

Mr Kofoed consequently underlined the benefits of the EU plant variety system which helps farmers to have new varieties and products suited to local conditions, which is crucial when farmers are confronted with so many challenges like climate change and rising world food demand. And he outlined ways to improve it.