CONDITIONS FOR THE GRANT OF RIGHTS (Hansard, 24 June 1997)

§ Mr. Baker
I beg to move amendment No. 2, in page 2, line 42, at end insert
`, but no variety which occurs naturally in the wild shall be the subject of a grant of plant breeders' rights.'. Thank you for selecting my amendment, Mr Deputy Speaker.
This is a testing amendment, to which I hope the Minister will respond in a positive mariner. There is anxiety about the fact that, with plant breeders' rights, it is possible to annex something that occurs naturally and claim it as a "discovery"—which is a word that is used in clause 4(6)—and thereby to market it and claim credits, and remuneration, for that.
The hon. Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell) mentioned a species or variety of apple. I can understand that sometimes a naturally occurring plant—fruit, vegetable or whatever—may be developed in such a way as to constitute something that has been added on and so would qualify for some sort of intellectual right. However, I am anxious to prevent it being possible for something that has always occurred naturally to be "discovered" and for benefit in financial terms to be accrued from that "discovery".
There is a dangerous precedent, which I hope that the Minister will address, regarding relations between the north and the south. If this principle were written into the Bill, something that has been growing for a very long time, to the benefit of farmers in the third world in particular, might be "discovered" and written into legislation in Europe. If that were the case, that could be to the detriment of those who were perhaps, dare I say it, simple farmers in the third world, and to the benefit of those who understood how laws worked and were able to exploit that knowledge for their own purposes.
That is the purpose of moving the amendment. I hope that the Minister can give an assurance that he understands that.

§ Mr. Rooker
I hope to satisfy the hon. Member for Lewes (Mr. Baker) again.
If a breeder discovers a plant growing in the wild, he must carry out significant selection and re-crossing to establish distinctness, uniformity and—most important— 730 stability. Wild plants invariably lack uniformity and stability, so it is not just a question of discovering something that is in the wild; the breeder must develop and do something about it. It is for that reason that clause 4(3) provides that: the person entitled to the grant of plant breeders' rights in respect of a wild plant is the person who…discovers and develops it"— not just discovers it. I cannot accept the amendment because it is both unnecessary and unworkable.
The hon. Member for Daventry, who mentioned the apple in New Zealand, said that, having discovered the apple in the wild, it took that family 15 years to bring it to the market; it was not a question of picking something up and commercialising it.
I hope that, following that assurance, the hon. Member for Lewes will withdraw his amendment.

§ Mr. Baker
I will withdraw the amendment, but I draw to the Minister's attention the fact that, in clause 4(6), the word "discovery" is present and the word "develop" is not. That was why I moved the amendment. I am now happy to withdraw it.
I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.