REFERENCE COLLECTIONS OF PLANT MATERIAL (Hansard, 24 June 1997)

§ Mr. Baker
I beg to move amendment No. 7, in page 14, line 7, leave out from 'Controller' to 'reference' and insert 'shall establish and maintain comprehensive'. This amendment attempts to be constructive. Hon. Members have heard about the establishment that has opened in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for South-East Cornwall (Mr. Breed) and about the importance that is placed upon collections. The Bill refers to a reference collection, but it does not required that it be maintained. It refers simply to the fact that: The Controller may establish and maintain reference collections". The amendment seeks to emphasise the importance that the Liberal Democrats attach to the maintenance of such collections for future reference and possible future use. I hope that the Minister will accept that this is an important point and will respond positively.

§ Mr. Rooker
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. The operation of the plant breeders' rights system would not be practical in the absence of a comprehensive reference collection, which includes information about all United Kingdom protected varieties. That is the foundation without which the system would not work, and it must be maintained. It is not a question of "may" or "shall": the system would collapse and be ineffective without that reference collection.
As drafted, the amendment would require the controller to keep a list of information from around the world. That would prove impractical and unnecessarily expensive. International co-operation in plant variety testing under the UPOV umbrella includes facilities for the exchange of information and material between testing authorities. The establishment of a more extensive reference collection in the United Kingdom would result in unnecessary expense. All information is available and can be accessed by 32 member nations under the UPOV umbrella.
As I have said, the system would not work without a reference collection. It is not a matter of discretion: it is the foundation of the system.

§ Mr. Baker
I am grateful to the Minister for that response. I found it slightly confusing, but perhaps that is my fault. He seemed to say that a comprehensive collection exists, while resisting replacing "may" with "shall" on the basis that an extensive reference collection would cost too much money. However, I note that the Minister is committed to maintaining a comprehensive reference collection and, on that basis, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.