New legislation on biodiversity has been adopted by the French National Assembly, opening doors for the sharing and selling of seeds in the public domain to amateur gardeners. For some associations that had been illegally trading public domain seeds, this is seen as a major victory.
Prior to the newly adopted legislation, only seeds listed in the national catalogue could be commercialised in France. The new law allows non-governmental organisations to transfer, share or sell seeds that are in the public domain to non-commercial users (IPW, Biodiversity/Genetic Resources/Biotech, 7 July 2016).
The legislation (in French) on “the reclaiming of biodiversity, nature and landscapes” was adopted on 20 July. The new disposition is in Article 11 (4 quarter in the draft legislation).
According to a source, about twenty associations were trading public domain seeds in France, in particular ancient varieties, and some faced a number of lawsuits.
Blanche Magarinos-Rey, lawyer specialised in environmental law, representing Kokopelli, one of such associations, said passage of the law “represents a major victory.”
This new bill will free those associations from lawsuits by making their activity legal, she told Intellectual Property Watch, adding that the bill would probably encourage the creations of new associations.
Earlier in the month, Magarinos-Rey told Intellectual Property Watch that the bill would constitute an exception in the interpretation of the European Directive, but would remain in line with European Union legislation, and added that Denmark published an administrative instruction with the same dispositions.
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