Plant Breeder Rights (PBR)Harvest Declaration Form

Plant Breeder Rights (PBR)

A Plant Breeder Right (PBR) is an exclusive commercial right to a registered variety. The rights are a form of intellectual property, like patents and copyright, and are administered under the Plant Breeder’s Rights Act 1994

PBR allows the holder, directly or via licensing other persons, with the exclusive commercial rights to:

– Produce and reproduce the material
– Condition the material for the purpose of propagation
– Offer the material for sale
– Sell the material
– Import the material, and
– Export the material

Purchase of a PBR protected seed variety means that growers face restrictions on the use of the variety. For individual growers the major restriction is that the current seed or the produce of the subsequent harvests cannot be sold as seed for sowing. This restriction includes seed sales and trading between farmers.

Plant Breeder Right’s are important for the development of the grains industry as they provide plant breeders with a system to protect their intellectual property and gain a financial reward for their innovation. Without the PBR system there would be very little investment in developing new genetic material that improved grower’s productivity.

For full details relating to Plant Breeder Rights and End Point Royalties within the Australian Cereal/Canola/Legume seed industry, please refer to the Combined Industry Website www.varietycentral.com.au

Details on GrainSearch’s Industry Standard Grower Licences can also be found on this website.  The relevant GrainSearch Seed Licences apply to all growers who sow seed in 2014 season – whether from new seed, or from seed retained on farm.  Growers should familiarise themselves with the terms & conditions relating to sowing and harvesting varieties protected by PBR (1994).

Please contact GrainSearch for a copy of the relevant season Industry Standard Variety Licence

End Point Royalties

An End Point Royalty (EPR) is a royalty paid on every tonne of grain produced by the grower of a particular cereal variety. The royalty payable by the grower may vary between varieties. Please note that all GrainSearch cereal varieties have EPR applying to the grain produced. Please note that EPR also applies to any grain used on farm as stock feed, however, EPR is not payable on any grain retained as seed for the purpose of on-farm use. Growers, however, must accurately declare to GrainSearch the total production of each variety and also note the amount retained as seed.