Project extends period of protection of rights to cultivars

Bill 1702/19 amends the Cultivar Protection Law (9.456/97) to define the term of protection for improved seeds at 20 years, except for vines, fruit, forest and ornamental trees, the respective rootstocks, if any, and sugar cane, for which the term will be 25 years . Currently, the law establishes that these periods are, respectively, 15 years and 18 years.

According to the Cultivar Protection Law, only after the term of validity of the right to protection the cultivar becomes public domain and no other right can impede its free use.

Author of the project, deputy Giovani Cherini (PR-RS) states that increasing the protection period is a way of encouraging research and development of new plant varieties. “High productivity varieties, with desirable agronomic characteristics, take years to be developed. However, they can be easily replicated without authorization”, argues Cherini.

He explains that the development of new varieties of sugar cane, for example, takes at least 12 years and can cost up to R$200 million per variety. Considering forest species, continues Cherini, the eucalyptus cultivation cycle is 6 to 7 years, and the development of a new commercial clone can take 12 to 20 years, depending on the methodology used.

Conduct
The project will be analyzed conclusively by the Agriculture, Livestock, Supply and Rural Development committees; Economic Development, Industry, Commerce and Services; and Constitution and Justice and Citizenship.