Brussels, 30/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - The agricultural organisation Copa-Cogeca have again warned against using patents in the agriculture sector.
The warning came during a seminar by the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) in Brussels last week on the interface between patents and plant variety rights. Copa-Cogeca say that using patents will result in fewer products and varieties and additional costs.
Chairman of the 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”.
Wrinkly tomatoes. Kofoed 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. 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. The organisation are 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”, they say. This, they argue, poses a risk for both farmers and society in general, jeopardising progress in breeding, and decreasing 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, they state.
Kofoed 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. (Lionel Changeur)