S.I. No. 493/2000 - Plant Varieties (Farm Saved Seed) Regulations, 2000.

1. In this Schedule “Official body” means any or all of the following—

(

a

) the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development,

(

b

) the Controller of Plant Breeders' Rights,

(

c

) the Central Statistics Office,

(

d

) Teagasc, and

(

e

) the Plant Variety Development Office Limited.

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.

3. The Official body, may withhold the requested information if—

(

a

) that Official body is not involved in monitoring agricultural production,

(

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,

(

c

) the requested information is not available or is no longer available,

(

d

) such information cannot be obtained through the ordinary performance of the tasks of the Official body,

(

e

) such information can only be obtained with additional burden or costs, or,

(

f

) such information relates specifically to material which does not belong to varieties of the holder.

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.

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.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 15th day of December, 2000.

JOE WALSH,

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

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.

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.

Small farmers (as described in council Regulation (EC) 2100/94 concerning Community Plant Variety Rights) are exempt from the payment of royalties.

The plant species covered by these Regulations are Cereals, Fodder plants, Oil and Fibre plants (excluding Flax) and Potatoes.

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.

Schedule

Information by the farmer

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