Washington, DC
July 17, 2003

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of 12 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include bean, sorghum and wheat.

The 12 certificates are being issued under the Plant Variety Protection Act. The certificates require that the varieties be new, distinct, uniform and stable. The owners will have the exclusive right to reproduce, sell, import and export their products in the United States for the duration of protection.

The 12 certificates are:

• the Shiny Crow* variety of field bean, developed by Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo.;
• the Dusky and Astun varieties of garden bean, developed by Syngenta Seeds, Inc. - Vegetables, Boise, Idaho;
• the PH83WVV, PH085ZJFE, PHU80MJ and PH40AZE varieties of sorghum, developed by Pioneer
  Hi-Bred International, Inc., Plainview, Texas;
• the Brundage 96* variety of common wheat, developed by University of Idaho and Idaho Agricultural
  Experiment Station, Moscow, Idaho;
• the AP502 CL* variety of common wheat, developed by Agripro Wheat, a business unit of Advanta
  U.S.A. Inc., Junction City, Kan.; and
• the 38206, Tribute* and McCormick* varieties of common wheat, developed by Virginia Tech
  Intellectual Properties, Inc., Blacksburg, Va.;

* In the United States seed of this variety (1) shall be sold by variety name only as a class
of certified seed and (2) shall conform to the number of generations specified by the owner of the rights (84 STAT. 1542, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 2321 ET SEQ).

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service administers the Plant Variety Protection Act, which provides time limited marketing protection to developers of new and distinct seed- reproduced and tuber-propagated plants ranging from farm crops to flowers. For additional information contact the Plant Variety Protection Office at telephone (301) 504-5518, fax (301) 504-5291 or the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov/science/PVPO/pvp.htm