Agriculture committee  I think the compromise is UPOV 78. It perfectly fulfills our international obligations. It allows plant breeders to collect royalties on their development. One third of UPOV member countries use UPOV 78, and in the TRIPS agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property, UPOV is just one example of plant variety protection.

Agriculture committee  [Technical Difficulty--Editor]...determine the extent of the so-called farmers’ privilege and the erosion of it over time as it's developed. Certainly the UPOV 91 is a template law. Much of this legislation is lifted directly from that template in terms of the amendments, the language, the rights conveyed to breeders.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. I'd like to thank the committee for giving me the opportunity to speak on this extremely important piece of legislation for not just farmers but all Canadians. The NFU is Canada's largest direct membership, coast-to-coast farm organization. You have to be a voluntary member not simply a producer of a commodity to be considered a member of the National Farmers Union.