Advocating for a stronger plant breeders’ rights system: Euroseeds endorses essentially derived varieties in modern breeding

In the light of the increased use of modern breeding techniques, it has become much more likely that a variety bred from an existing variety (initial variety) still conforms to the initial variety in its essential characteristics and should be considered as an essentially derived variety. The extension of the scope of breeders’ rights from a protected initial plant variety to such essentially derived plant varieties provides effective protection to breeders who develop an original genotype (the initial variety) from crossing and selection. Therefore, Euroseeds continues to support the essentially derived variety (EDV) concept as an important tool for ensuring not only a balanced, but also an efficient protection of plant variety rights.