Source: Dutch Ministry of Agriculture

Speech by Cees Veerman, Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, during the opening of the Breeders' Rights Conference in Vietnam

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honour to address you this morning, at the start of my four-day visit to Vietnam. Although I have only been in Vietnam for a short time, I am already struck by the beauty of the country and of its people. The progress that Vietnam has made is equally impressive. The country has undergone great economic growth and its people have a forward-looking attitude.

WTO membership will mark a milestone in this progress, and will signify Vietnam's full integration into the world economy. But it will also undoubtedly bring changes to the economy and society here in Vietnam. Although freer trade will have positive consequences for the economy as a whole, some sectors may benefit more than others. And without protection, some sectors will face difficulties.

Take agriculture, for instance. You might think that WTO membership would be particularly beneficial for labour-intensive producers, whereas others would face increased competition from abroad. However, increased competition may stimulate innovations and improved production techniques.

A crucial way of improving production is by introducing new plant varieties. This, together with the system of breeders' rights protection, forms the subject of today's seminar.

Breeding new varieties of plants requires a substantial investment in terms of skill, labour, material resources and time. And investors will only commit funds if there is a good chance they will benefit in the long run.

In order to secure the necessary funds from investors, as well as to recover their own costs, breeders must be able to establish exclusive rights to new varieties. Without plant breeders' rights, these aims are more difficult to achieve since there is nothing to stop others from multiplying a breeder's variety and selling it on a commercial scale.

So breeders' rights are crucial. Exclusive rights to over seventy thousand varieties of plants are enforced in countries that are member of the UPOV -the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties. Twelve thousand new applications for plant variety rights are submitted each year. I am sure this audience needs no further explanation about the importance of breeders' rights, but I would like to mention their enforcement. Without effective enforcement, the exclusive rights of plant breeders have limited value. Enforcement is a complex matter that involves civil, procedural, criminal and case law.

The effective enforcement of breeders' rights also requires a substantial input from the private sector. Companies that use new varieties and pay the royalties have a great interest to make sure their competitors also pay royalties. The government can make the legal framework but the private sector from Vietnam and abroad certainly has its role to play.

Breeders' rights are also of the utmost importance for the Netherlands. Our country has a highly advanced agricultural sector and we are the third largest agricultural exporter in the world. The world's leading breeders of new varieties are Dutch, particularly in the field of vegetables, flowers and potatoes. Each year Dutch companies apply for 1500 new varieties (national and on the European level). Sometimes, breeders' rights are the only asset a company has. Without an effective worldwide system of breeders' rights and enforcement, these companies cannot develop new varieties that have a higher yield, better taste, better appearance, improved resistance to transportation and which require less water or are more resistant against pest and diseases.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Joining the WTO and setting up a system of breeders' rights under the UPOV convention will present a major challenge for Vietnam. The council op the UPOV took already a positive decision about the Intellectual Property Law of Vietnam. So the step to become a member of UPOV is only a small one.
Making a law is only the first step. Implementing the law and making the system work requires considerable efforts in terms of manpower and money.
We appreciate that the new system of breeders' rights and its effective enforcement cannot be fully realised overnight, or even within a year. In the Netherlands we already started making rules for plant breeding rights more than half a century ago. We were also among the first countries to sign the UPOV Act 1961. This provides an excellent basis for understanding and cooperating with other countries that want to take steps to protect breeders' rights. And after all, every great journey begins with the first step.

Our extensive experience also makes us a good partner for setting up an effective system. We are more than willing to share our experiences with Vietnam. The aim of this seminar is to exchange knowledge and to establish a plan for cooperative action. This includes training specialists in the Netherlands and Vietnam, exchanging test results, supplying testing equipment and raising awareness of the issue of intellectual property rights in agriculture. I hope we may even be able to help register new varieties from Vietnamese breeders in the Netherlands and Europe.

Ladies and gentlemen,

There are striking differences between Vietnam and the Netherlands, but also a number of similarities. I see close parallels with the Netherlands in a number of areas. My country also lies in a fertile river delta, has a large degree of urbanisation and a labour-intensive system of agriculture, due to the population density. I am sure we can learn a lot from each other. We can exchange knowledge and experiences about which agricultural development has most successfully contributed to the national economy, national prosperity and the welfare of both its rural and urban populations.

Cooperation between the Netherlands and the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is already substantial. Later this morning I will meet with my colleague, Mr Cao Duc Phat, to discuss the possibilities for expanding this cooperation in several areas, including the protection of plant varieties.

Let me conclude by expressing my admiration for Vietnam and its people. Great challenges lie ahead, and I am happy we can make a small contribution to tackling those challenges. I wish you a fruitful seminar and I look forward to seeing the results.

Thank You.